from In These Times:



Under Cloud of Bankruptcy, CWA Will Try (Again) to Unionize American Airlines Workers
By Mike Elk


On Wednesday, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) filed a federal petition to hold a union election for 9,700 customer service workers who work at American Airlines call centers and flight gates. The workers are the only remaining large sector of the airline that is not unionized. As American Airlines enters bankruptcy, customer service workers' fight to unionize will be vitally important to already unionized workers looking to protect their pensions, healthcare and wages.

AA filed for bankruptcy last week in a move that could help them gut pensions and get out of other contract obligations, as Working In These Times contributor Josh Eidelson wrote last week. CWA claims that American Airlines is currently holding $4.1 billion in cash on hand and that despite this, it’s looking to increase profits by using the bankruptcy process to cut its labor costs, which are among the highest in its industry. Workers are hoping that organizing with CWA may help them fight potential cuts.

"I'm on board, and looking forward to CWA representation to help get us through the bankruptcy process,” said Latricia Beasley, a customer service worker from Dallas.
CWA has been trying to unionize the customer service workers since the 1990s. The new bankruptcy filing by American Airlines has given the union a renewed sense of organizing urgency. In 1998, CWA was unsuccessful in a previous union election with the same group of workers. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/... /

from The Big Picture:



Bailout Total: $29.616 Trillion Dollars
By Barry Ritholtz - December 9th, 2011, 6:20AM


There is a fascinating new study coming out of the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. Its titled “$29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed’s Bail-out by Funding Facility and Recipient” by James Felkerson. The study looks at the lending, guarantees, facilities and spending of the Federal Reserve.

The researchers took all of the individual transactions across all facilities created to deal with the crisis, to figure out how much the Fed committed as a response to the crisis. This includes direct lending, asset purchases and all other assistance. (It does not include indirect costs such as rising price of goods due to inflation, weak dollar, etc.)

The net total? As of November 10, 2011, it was $29,616.4 billion dollars — (or 29 and a half trillion, if you prefer that nomenclature). Three facilities—CBLS, PDCF, and TAF— are responsible for the lion’s share — 71.1% of all Federal Reserve assistance ($22,826.8 billion).

One comment about some of the folks pushing back against this massive total: Yes, there is a big difference between a $100 lent for 3 days, and a $100 lent overnight rolled over 2 more times. And there is an enormous difference when temporary overnight lending lasts for three years. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/bailo... /

Only Two Candidates Will Agree to Show Their Faces at the Donald Trump GOP Debate


Poor, poor Donald Trump. He wanted to be president, but it was not to be. Then he came up with a more modest goal: to moderate a GOP debate. But that isn't working out so well for him either.



http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/artic... /

Woman Arrested for Cooking Meth Inside a WalMart


This story offers up a perfect slice of modern America...

A gunman opened fired randomly on passing motorists on Vine Street in Hollywood on Friday, critically wounding one person in the head, according to Los Angeles Police Department sources.

The victim was rushed to a local hospital.

Bystanders saw a man firing and hailed down two police officers working on a nearby movie set, according to a source. They fired on the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011...

Land of the free, home of the hungry
Nowhere is the chasm between America's political class and its working poor more vast than in the demand to cut food stamps

Gary Younge
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 December 2011


On Monday afternoon this week, Rachelle Grimmer went into a Department of Health and Human Services in Texas with her two children, Timothy, aged 10, and Ramie, aged 12, and asked for a new case worker who could assist her application for food stamps. She had first applied in July but had been told she hadn't provided enough information and, by most accounts, had been struggling to get by and get help since she moved from Ohio.

She was taken to a small room, where she pulled a gun, sparking a seven-hour standoff with police. Shortly before midnight, three shots were heard. Rachelle had shot both herself and her kids. Police rushed in to find the mother dead and Ramie and Timothy in critical condition. Earlier that morning, Ramie had posted a Facebook message, saying: "may die 2day". She actually hung on until Wednesday. Timothy's condition remains critical.

The tragic unravelling of this particular episode is hardly typical. But the desperation that underpins it is. For, in this period between Thanksgiving and Christmas (when many Americans are worrying about what overindulging will do to their waistline), a significant number is wracked with an entirely different concern: not having enough to eat.

This is no marginal group, no handful of unfortunates and ne'er-do-wells in a time of crisis. Indeed, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, food insecurity is a common, growing and enduring problem. According to Gallup polling, one in five Americans reported not having enough money to buy food in the past 12 months – the highest level since the month Barack Obama was elected. Around the country, food banks are feeling the pinch of market forces: as poverty climbs, demand is rising and supply is falling as people who would have donated have less left to spare. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/ci...

By MARY ANN MILBOURN / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER


A proposal to continue the current 99 weeks of unemployment benefits may ultimately hinge on approval of a Canadian-U.S. oil pipeline project.

House Democrats and Republicans appeared to be narrowing their differences over both a continued reduction in the Social Security payroll tax contribution and the extension of long-term unemployment benefits.

But a bigger potential hurdle looms. House Republicans have added to the bill approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from the oil sands of Canada to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

The pipeline got sidetracked earlier this year when Nebraska opposed it due to its route through the state's environmentally-sensitive Sandhills area. In November, the Obama Administration put the project on hold saying it wanted to review alternative routes. The review will delay the project until after next year's election. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pipelin...

Apple’s ‘Blood iPhone’ Subject of Viral Campaign Launched by Congolese Man
Thousands join Delly Mawazo Sesete’s campaign on Change.org calling on Apple CEO Tim Cook to build an iPhone with conflict-free minerals from eastern Congo; Sesete received death threats in Congo for ethical mineral advocacy.


WASHINGTON - December 9 - More than 10,000 people across the world have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on Apple CEO Tim Cook to make an iPhone with minerals from eastern Congo that don’t fund and facilitate the mass violence, rape, and human rights crimes commonly associated with the Congolese mining industry.

Delly Mawazo Sesete, a native of Congo who fought human rights abuses in the mining industry despite violence and death threats, launched the campaign on Change.org.

“If Apple truly wants to think different, they need to think conflict-free,” said Delly Mawazo Sesete, who launched the campaign on Change.org. “The iPhone is my favorite smartphone, but Apple uses minerals from Eastern Congo that fund the violence and killing that is destroying my country. Apple must change its supply chain to meet the growing consumer demand for conflict-free products.”

Today, supporters are rallying in support of Delly’s “conflict-free” campaign at the grand opening of Apple’s largest store, located in Grand Central Station. Delly is traveling to the United States next week and hopes to meet with Apple’s CEO to share his concerns. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/...

The brutal logic of climate change mitigation

by David Roberts
8 Dec 2011 6:25 PM


In my last post, I discussed a new peer-reviewed paper by climate scientists Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows. It paints a grim picture:



Like I said, go ahead and pour yourself a stiff drink. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.grist.org/climate-policy/2011-1...

(Bloomberg) Throughout more than two hours of congressional testimony, Jon S. Corzine was careful to invoke the idea of intent when asked how his failed brokerage, MF Global Holdings Ltd., came to lose track of as much as $1.2 billion in its clients’ money.

“I certainly would never intend to direct or have segregated funds moved,” Corzine said yesterday during his appearance before the House Agriculture Committee, testifying he didn’t know what happened to the missing money. “I am comfortable that certainly on my part there was no intention to violate segregation rules,” he told lawmakers at another point.

Corzine, responding to the first of three subpoenas from congressional committees investigating the collapse of his firm and the missing funds, defied the expectations of some analysts when he decided to answer questions and not resort to his right against self-incrimination. Lawyers said it was no surprise that he repeatedly focused on intent in his testimony.

The language Corzine used “is certainly an attempt to defuse any criminal responsibility,” said Stephen Braga, an attorney with Ropes & Gray LLP in Washington. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-09/c...

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — If you want to understand the latest Franco-German proposal to “save” the euro, imagine this.

Imagine the governments of China and Japan demanding they be given the legal right to override the U.S. budget’s legislative process if needed, and to impose tax hikes and spending cuts on the American people as needed.

After all, China and Japan are our biggest creditors. The U.S. government owes them trillions. We’re not quite as deeply in debt as a share of our economic output, as Europe’s naughtiest Nellies. But we’re not far behind either.

Markets rallied this week on hopes that the leaders of the European Union will at long last solve the region’s budget crisis. Center stage is the new proposal from Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. They want to turn Europe into, effectively, a federal government, with the power to impose budget discipline on wayward members. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-merke...