pensions at Brave New Films

The HIDDEN AGENDA Behind GOP Assault on the Big Three Automakers

2009-01-09T00:35:19Z

Forget all the misdirecting hype about the Southern states and foreign versus domestic automakers. The REAL agenda behind the Republican assault on the Big Three is the pension plans. They are trying to use the economic downturn to gut the preexisting contracts between the auto manufacturers and the unions. If the likes of Shelby, DeMint and Corker get their way, say goodbye to ALL pension contracts. That includes airline workers, K-12 teachers, teamsters, longshoremen, college professors, etc.

Everyone knows someone who will be affected by this. They are trying to steal the pensions from all of us, by altering or breaking legally binding contracts that are in effect with the UAW.

That's because the rich people know they are going to have to pony up some big tax bucks as payback for all the years they've enjoyed champagne and caviar while the rest of us have seen our quality of life deteriorate.

So the rich have decided that the best way to save themselves some of the expense is to break the pension contracts.

Fight back! Call your Senators and tell them you want them to defend the UAW pension contracts.

If you don't, it could be you or you dad or your brother or aunt or best friend who end up holding the short end of the stick ...

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Meet the Bloggers: Andy Stern Can Restore the Middle Class

2008-12-18T16:58:08Z

On Meet the Bloggers this week, SEIU President Andy Stern joined us to discuss the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a crucial piece of legislation that can bring back the middle class by giving workers the right to unionize and demand fairer wages and benefits. Watch Brave New Foundation's latest video, Your New Job, and sign the petition to support EFCA today.

Meet the Bloggers airs live every Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT. And if you missed any previous shows, you can always catch them here.

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Meet the Bloggers: Baratunde Thurston on What Unions Mean for Minorities

2008-12-21T16:25:07Z

When you're talking about the rights of workers and the urgent need to help them unionize, there's no better person to talk to than SEIU President Andy Stern. On yesterday's Meet the Bloggers, Stern was our special guest to discuss the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), a vital piece of legislation that, if passed, will go a long way toward restoring the middle class in our country. EFCA would enable workers to unionize, allowing them to demand fairer wages and much needed benefits like health insurance.

EFCA would bring balance to the work place. As Michael Whitney of American Rights at Work indicated during the show, this bill would effectively reduce the colossal disparity between Fortune 500 CEOs making an average of $6,153 an hour and the majority of workers earning an hourly federal minimum wage of $6.55. What's more, EFCA would give workers a voice when it comes to negotiating jobs and contracts, which, as JackandJillPolitics.com blogger Baratunde Thurston pointed out, is especially important for minority workers. And with mega employers like Wal-Mart resorting to unionbusting tactics and electioneering in order to prevent their employees from supporting pro-union candidates, the time to support EFCA is critical.

That's why we dedicated our entire show to this issue, and that's why we partnered with American Rights at Work to create a new video called Your New Job, as well as a petition to help EFCA pass. Get this video and the petition to everyone you know who cares about fairness and wants to help restore the middle class in America. And get it to them now!

Meet the Bloggers airs live every Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT. And if you missed any previous shows, you can always catch them here.

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Meet the Bloggers: Michael Whitney on the Disparity Between Workers and CEOs

2009-01-05T09:16:14Z

This week on Meet the Bloggers, Michael Whitney of American Rights at Work discussed the incredible disparity between workers and CEOs in our country. Check out this video from SEIU COPE for more, and help restore the middle class by signing our petition to support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Meet the Bloggers airs live every Friday at 1pm ET/10 am PT. And if you missed any previous shows, you can always catch them here.

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Dennis Kucinich Rocks DNC: 'Wake Up America!'

2008-10-29T09:40:28Z

It's Election Day, 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake up call. Wake up America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy, and have added four trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt.

We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil, and twice what we paid for health care. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the President's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil.

Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.

If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating this Administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy. We can't afford it America.

Securing Good Contracts and Enforcing Them

2008-10-31T21:29:36Z

Teamsters have negotiated record increases in wages, health care, and pensions through good contracts. Good contracts also provide solid job security and provide greater respect of employees by management. (Running Time: 5:09)

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