We need to beat swords into plowshares.

We need to beat swords into plowshares.

A program for real change...

http://peaceandsocialjustice.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-progressive-program-for-real-change.html

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Letter to the Editor, Madison Times


news@madtimes.com

Letter to the Editor submitted for publication;

We need to be asking why all the states and the federal government are embroiled in all this budget turmoil.

Billions of our tax-dollars are being squandered in two wars while supporting 800 U.S. military bases on foreign soil yet politicians act like this is not even connected to these budget problems.

Why doesn't Obama have the courage to ask the American people: How is my war economy working for you?

These wars are making us all poor.

These wars are killing jobs the same way they kill people.

Health care is a major issue in the struggle now underway in Wisconsin.

You mean to tell me the wealthiest country in the world can't provide its people with a National Public Health Care System which would create ten-million new jobs but we have the money to waste on wars?

Obama and the Democrats are just as responsible for this budget mess as are Scott Walker and the Republicans. Obama, like Walker, is nothing but Wall Street's surrogate. Take the profits out of war and we will have peace and money to solve our problems.

Trying to "balance the budget" on the backs of working people trying to make ends meet is just as criminal an endeavor as these wars.

Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council

58891 County Road 13
Warroad, Minnesota 56763

Phone: 218-386-2432
Cell Phone: 651-587-5541

E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net

Check out my Blog:
http://thepodunkblog.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Ken Martin's racist, anti-labor surrogate, Dave Butcher, speaks...

From my FaceBook "Wall"
Alan's Profile · Alan's Wall

  • Alan L. Maki
    The Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party continues to hold meetings and conferences in non-union casinos of the Indian Gaming industry where casino workers are forced to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws.
    Monday at 8:56am ·  · 



      • Sally Robbins This is a disgrace.
        Monday at 9:22am ·

      • Dave Butcher I've never noticed any smoke at Northern Lights Casino.
        Monday at 9:47am · 

      • Sally Robbins 
        Dave, have you noticed workers have no rights in these casinos? The issue is the DFL should not be holding this kind of conference or any kind of function at a non-union facility- period! I don't go to casinos so I wouldn't know about the smoke situation personally. I did just call a friend who works at Reed's Sporting Goods in Walker and she told me the smoke in Northern Lights Casino is terrible. She told me her best friend works at the casino and coughs non-stop. I think you are making up excuses for the DFL, Dave. Why?

        Monday at 10:00am ·  ·

      • Dave Butcher I'm just sharing my own experience, Sally. The DFL doesn't need any excuses. I think the status of casino workers is properly a management issue. The casinos do provide a lot of jobs which people are thankful for.
        Monday at 10:06am · 

      • Sally Robbins 
        Dave. The MNDFL created these 40,000 casino jobs in exchange for campaign contributions in a corrupt deal with the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association. Do you know of any other non-union facilities the Minnesota AFL-CIO would tolerate DFL functions being held at? If so, name them. If people had the opportunity to work in jobs in a healthy working environment with real living wages they would not be working in these casinos. I find it most interesting that you choose to call this a "management issue" rather than a workers' rights issue.

        Monday at 10:24am ·  · 

      • Dave Butcher If I'm not mistaken, the casinos were built on Indian land which is part of 'soverign nations.' The 'management' issue, perhaps, lies with the tribal councils.
        Monday at 10:40am · 

      • Sally Robbins 
        Do you know any other sovereign nations anyplace in the world where it is appropriate workers are deprived of their rights? Have you ever heard of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Does this Declaration exclude certain Nations?

        You are not mistaken about "where" these casinos are located. To use your logic, though, I would ask: Why is the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party holding its meetings, conferences and conventions in foreign countries where workers have no rights?

        Could you explain why not one single Native American is in the Minnesota State Legislature? Here you are supporting this kind of meeting being held in a non-union facility and at the same time you say "the DFL needs no excuses." The DFL either needs excuses or criticism for not promoting the election of Native Americans to the Minnesota State Legislature. The DFL is thoroughly corrupt as a result of its relationship with the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.

        By the way; since you think these Indian Reservations are some kind of "sovereign nations" where workers can be abused at will, could you explain why so many DFL politicians are taking campaign contributions from these foreign countries?

        Monday at 10:54am ·

      • Dave Butcher 
        Here are a few of the comments when I broached the issue to others:


        "I have a friend who works in one of those establishments and thinks he has the greatest benefits of all. Also, this is a separate country with a separate judicial system different from our own, so there is a judicial remedy that actually works better than ours. Each tribe has a different setup."

        "ask him to back up the allegation with specifics. he's wrong"

        "I support unions so I like that but I think the approach on attacking the tribes is not going to get the people organized to really form a union - jursidictionally - I am not sure how unions would hold power to do anything on the tribal level. The tribes are another nation within a nation."

        "Alan Maki is like the mean dog barking on the block and I have learned to just cross the street and keep on walking to avoid an unnecessary bite."

        "Hmm. When I was in the union, i was laid off three times (losing my health insurance each time), had my sick time negotiated away into an annuity that I can't touch for five years (but they can take $100 a year out of for administrative cos...ts), and nearly got thrown out of the apprenticeship program and the union because I missed a class when my daughter was in the ER.
        I actually stood up in front of hundreds of union members at a contract meeting and asked our union president and the negotiating committee what benefit being in a union offered me. Not a single one could give me an answer.
        So I'm sorry, but until the unions start actually taking care of the workers at the bottom of the pile, I don't really give a damn what they think about where we hold our meetings."

        Monday at 2:19pm ·

      • Sally Robbins Dave your true colors are showing through. Now you have attacked all of our unions.
        Monday at 5:40pm · 

      • Dave Butcher I'm simply sharing the comments I received when I broached the issue of a couple of DFL sites, Sally. It's also been suggested that you two aren't worth the trouble of trying to discuss anything with.
        Monday at 9:05pm · 

      • Sally Robbins Dave you are the one who responded with your vile attacks. You are a coward. You hide behind the anonymous "comments" of others. Place the links here where you got the comments. You are a coward. You made these things up and attributed them to others. How disgusting. Here we have another someone "suggested;" who? I put my name to everything I write. Have your fellow cowards step into the light and state their names and opinions on their own.
        Monday at 9:24pm · 

      • Dave Butcher LOL. I couldn't make this stuff up Sally, but it's obvious you're incapable of carrying on any kind of intelligent discussion. Do you even know a Native American? You supposedly own property in Walker and were going to show up at the last Cass Co convention, but of course you didn't (btw, you have to be elected a deldgate at a local caucus to attend the convention). Who's the coward?
        Monday at 9:51pm · 

      • Sally Robbins 
        I could have attended just like anyone could attend a county convention. I was married twice to Native Americans, not that it is any of your business and I have three children who are mixed race. I didn't attend because I saw the racism and the manipulation taking place. Why waste my time. BTW why is there a new Affirmative Action officer for the MNDFL? Is he a white male?

        Here you are putting out misinformation claiming that to attend a DFL County Convention you have to be an elected delegate. NO YOU DON"T. Anyone from anyplace in the world can attend a DFL County Convention.

        If you didn't make this up let's have the names.

        Once you provide the names I will respond to each and every one of your outright lies.

        Explain to all of us why Senate District 4 and House District 4-A do not have Native American DFL candidates?

        Why don't you respond to the inappropriate activities of John McCarthy who uses the Cass County DFL as his base of operations?

        McCarthy as the head of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association hands out millions of dollars in campaign contributions to white DFL politicians and then takes that money back in through his Tony Doom Enterprises selling campaign materials from buttons to yard signs.

        Do you call this ethical?

        You are taking money from Indian Gaming that rightfully should be used to support the election of Native American politicians.

        Come on Mr. Butcher explain to us why white DFL politicians who don't live in the poverty of the Indian Nations would even consider taking these campaign contributions from the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association?

        What exactly do these white politicians do to earn the campaign contributions to the tune of millions of dollars every election cycle? These white DFL politicians sure haven't demonstrated any concern that affirmative action be enforced. These white politicians sure haven't raised their voices about 60% to 80% unemployment and the horrendous poverty on Indian Reservations.

        Come on Mr. Butcher explain to us what the Minnesota DFL's white politicians have done to earn these campaign contributions they are receiving from the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association.

        According to you, because Indian Reservations are sovereign nations not having to enforce state or federal labor laws it would only stand to reason no state or federal funds should be going to Indian Reservations and Tribal governments for housing, schools, roads, health care or anything else. Both you and I know even a someone like you won't dare make such arguments.

        The state controls slot machine compliance and registration of slot machines through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for these casinos but labor standards cannot be controlled by the Minnesota Department of Labor? Who do you think you are trying to give a snow-job to?

        What a pathetically poor excuse for a human being you are Mr. Butcher spreading these lies.

        Monday at 10:24pm ·

      • Dave Butcher 
        Yes, you can attend a county convention, Sally, but to have any voice you have to be a delegate which I suspect is beyond your effort profile. You'd rather yammer incoherently at people via facebook.


        There are reasons why Maki and his 'surrogates' have little credibility among the greater community of people which includes a good deal of the Native American community. I'll let you guess what those are. In the meantime, you are an enourmous waste of time. Goodbye.

        Monday at 10:35pm · 

      • Curtis Buckanaga threatened racist and their token indians will tell themselves anything to sleep better at night.
        Monday at 10:52pm · 

      • Sally Robbins Why leave me guessing Mr. Butcher?
        Monday at 10:52pm · 

      • Curtis Buckanaga I don't think he knows sally, hes simply baffled by his own ignorance It appears.
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

My thoughts on the minimum wage---

I think the minimum wage should a living--- non-poverty--- wage, and should be legislatively determined and tied to all the cost of living factors maintained by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Every three months this minimum wage should be re-calculated.

If a job needs to be done the worker doing the job should be paid a real living wage.

If an employer doesn't want to pay workers a real living--- non-poverty--- wage, the employer/stock-holder should just go ahead and do the job himself/herself.

Now, like the Chamber of Commerce; I feel real bad about using the levers of government to coerce employers to pay real living wages. So, my suggestion is that we look at all the cost of living factors and see how we can help these employers out by establishing universal social programs wherever possible... one example would be one of the most costly cost-of- living factors: health care. The solution is very simple--- a National Public Health Care System. Or, take childcare; another major "cost-of-living" factor: a National Public Child Care System.

If we go down the list of all the actual cost-of-living factors and implement universal social programs we might be able to bring wages wayyyy downnnn and keep employers happy enabling them to continue paying miserly low wages--- low wages from which they reap huge profits.

We need to re-focus this entire discussion on wages--- especially the minimum wage so that when we talk about wages politicians can't separate the minimum wage from real cost-of-living factors.
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Monday, February 14, 2011

Ken Martin, the new Chair of the Minnesota DFL is orchestrating a campaign against our organizing efforts...

Ken Martin, the new Chair of the Minnesota DFL is orchestrating a campaign against our organizing efforts...

The leadership of the Minnesota DFL has launched a vicious racist anti-union attack against our casino worker organizing efforts. Every worker in Minnesota should be concerned because every worker has become a target.

This is my response to one of these attacks by DFL'er Dave Butcher whose comments are posted in full at the bottom:

Members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party have launched into a vicious attack against our casino worker organizing efforts, and me personally, after we asked that this MNDFL conference, Greater MN DFL Summit, hosted by C D 6, 7 & 8, not be held at Northern Lights Casino.

Read on; the attacks take on a very vicious racist and anti-union character---

Two-million workers in the Indian Gaming Industry in the United States--- 41,000 in Minnesota--- are excluded from ALL labor laws. All these casino workers are forced to work in smoke-filled casinos at poverty wages without any rights under state or federal labor laws while Democratic Party politicians take in millions of dollars in campaign contributions.

These casino operations include huge hotels/motels, restaurants, theme parks/golf courses.

Most of the casino operations pay no taxes. Minnesota derives NO revenue from these casino operations yet tax-payers subsidize and pay for all infrastructure while corrupt tribal officials have diverted federal and state funds ear-marked for health care and education into building these casinos.

All the slot machines and table games are owned by the Lansky operation with the Kansas City Mob tending the "skimming" operations.

The main lawfirm/lobbyists of choice for the industry is Brownstein/Hyatt/Farber/Schreck.

Barack Obama and almost every single Democratic Party politician gets huge campaign contributions in return for Democrats having created the "Compacts" which brought this industry to life. In Minnesota not one single Native American Indian sits in the state legislature.

The National Indian Gaming Association has hired Altegrity/USIS a union-busting outfit that uses the tactics of the Pinkertons and Knuckles along with inventing many dirty tricks of its own.

Here is a typical Democratic response, posted just today, to our organizing efforts--- the Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council--- after I asked the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party to not hold meetings, conferences and conventions in these casino facilities. Here is one of the diatribes against our efforts that concludes with an attack on all unions. Interesting how the attacks are all anonymous with these cowardly liars not daring to attach their names to what they have to say:

Dave Butcher is the person who posted this on FaceBook:

Here are a few of the comments when I broached the issue to others:

"I have a friend who works in one of those establishments and thinks he has the greatest benefits of all. Also, this is a separate country with a separate judicial system different from our own, so there is a judicial remedy that actually works better than ours. Each tribe has a different setup."

"ask him to back up the allegation with specifics. he's wrong"

"I support unions so I like that but I think the approach on attacking the tribes is not going to get the people organized to really form a union - jursidictionally - I am not sure how unions would hold power to do anything on the tribal level. The tribes are another nation within a nation."

"Alan Maki is like the mean dog barking on the block and I have learned to just cross the street and keep on walking to avoid an unnecessary bite."

"Hmm. When I was in the union, i was laid off three times (losing my health insurance each time), had my sick time negotiated away into an annuity that I can't touch for five years (but they can take $100 a year out of for administrative cos...ts), and nearly got thrown out of the apprenticeship program and the union because I missed a class when my daughter was in the ER.

I actually stood up in front of hundreds of union members at a contract meeting and asked our union president and the negotiating committee what benefit being in a union offered me. Not a single one could give me an answer.

So I'm sorry, but until the unions start actually taking care of the workers at the bottom of the pile, I don't really give a damn what they think about where we hold our meetings."


Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council


Below are some of those who will be attending this conference who have no qualms about being union busters:


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