John Murphy, at-large international vice president and secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union 122 spoke with America’s Work Force on Dec. 19 to discuss the Butch-Lewis Act. Continue reading
Mike Dolan, legislative representative for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters spoke with America’s Work Force on Sept. 25 about the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA)
Dolan talked about the differences between the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. He stated that although there still needs to be work done to it, he likes the USMCA more than he likes NAFTA. According to Dolan, one of the bigger failures of NAFTA was opening up the southern border for long hauls for trucks because they did not end up meeting safety or wage regulations for their truckers. He said that in the USMCA, lawmakers focused more on trade sanctions and began to improve labor rights. Dolan stated that although it is a good first step in improving labor rights, there is still work that needs to be done with worker protections.
Burt Neuborne, author of “When at Times the Mob is Swayed” spoke with AWF on Sept. 25 about his book and saving democracy. Having sued every president of the United States since Lyndon B. Johnson, Neuborne proclaims himself as a person who stands up for the safety of our democracy, no matter what political party he is in favor of. He also discussed changing voting policies, such as when election day is held, mandatory voting like Australia has and opt-out voting. Finally, Neuborne explains why he believes big money should be taken out of politics and we should have publicly funded elections.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about Nancy Pelosi submitting a formal impeachment inquiry for President Trump to be impeached.
Micah Sifry, writer for The Nation Magazine spoke with America’s Work Force on July 24 about his article titled “Before Donald Trump, There was Ross Perot.”
Sifry spoke about the late Ross Perot, who passed away on July 9, 2019. He talked about how Perot showed, long before Donald Trump, that a billionaire tycoon could run for president. Perot, who made his fortune as a software tycoon, ran as an independent presidential candidate against the then President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Sifry mentioned how Perot had been leading the polls against the two parties front runner candidates. Lastly, Sifry spoke about why Perot was so successful, and also what his downfall was in the election.
John Murphy, Teamsters Local 122 secretary treasurer, spoke to AWF on July 24 about House Resolution 397, or better known as the Butch-Lewis Act. He discussed saving pensions in America and what could be done to help protect multi-employer pensions. Finally, Murphy discussed the rates on loans, specifically the pros and cons from both political parties.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc talked about Ohio House Bill 6 passing, better known as the nuclear bailout bill, and why it is such a catastrophe for Ohio tax payers.
Samuel Loesche, legislative representative with International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 122 spoke with America’s Work Force on May 22 to discuss lowering the age of interstate truck drivers.
Loesche said that there is legislation being put in place to reduce the age of interstate truck drivers from 21 down to 18. He said that one of the major reasons for this is because the number of interstate truck drivers has decreased significantly, so the thought is to lower the age of which a person could test for their Certified Driving License (CDL) in hopes of drawing more people into the job field.
Mark Naymik, political analyst for Cleveland.com, spoke about the ongoing Councilman Ken Johnson investigation with AWF. He discussed how Councilman Johnson has been abusing the reimbursement system and getting away with much more than he should be. Naymik stated that the FBI had even been brought into the investigation against Johnson. Furthermore, Naymik discussed legislation being brought up about single-use plastic bags, and cleaner energy.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about a program for coal miners in West Virginia called “Mined Minds” which will help coal miners train for a job in coding when they retire from coal mining.
Jesse Case, secretary treasurer of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 238 spoke with America’s Work Force on April 24 to discuss unionizing campaign workers in Iowa.
Case spoke about why there is a need to unionize the campaign workers in Iowa, where Local 238 is located. He said that the workers are working long hours, sometimes in dangerous conditions, and need the help of unions to bargain with them. Case said that the campaign workers that they have organized are under his local, 238. Furthermore, he was proud to say that the Iowa democratic party recognized Teamsters Local 238 as the official campaign representative.
Case continued his interview speaking about the Teamsters union and how they have the infrastructure and size for bargaining nationwide. He said that the Teamsters are a diverse union with members in every county in Iowa, and members in every state in the public and private sectors.
Mark Naymik, analyst for Cleveland.com spoke with AWF on April 24 on a variety of topics. One recurring topic that Johnson spoke about was Cleveland City Councilman Ken Johnson and the ongoing investigation against him. Naymik reported that the FBI is now investigating Johnson, saying he is now required to turn over all of his receipts to see if how much compensation he is requesting matches up with what he actually spent. Also, he is now required to fill out and submit thorough expense reports.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about President Trump’s tariffs on washing machines and the effects of it. He said that as a result of the tariffs, the price of washing machines went up, as did drying machines.
On March 27, Mark Naymik with the Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com spoke with America’s Work Force about the Amazon deal that almost happened in Cleveland.
Naymik discussed the Amazon deal that almost came to fruition in Cleveland. While Amazon was searching for a location for their headquarters HQ2, Cleveland offered the company $800 million and 50 percent income wage credit on their payroll while also having a prime location downtown. In return, Cleveland would have gained 40,000 jobs. He also discussed the ongoing Ken Johnson scandal and how he continues to request his max monthly reimbursement of $1,200 without properly stating exactly why he needs reimbursement. Naymik said Johnson needs to be audited so that the city can see that Johnson is lying about needing reimbursement and how he is abusing the system.
Ken Hall, secretary treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and president of Teamsters Local 175 in West Virginia spoke with America’s Work Force about So-Called “Right to Work.” Recently, West Virginia defeated So-Called “Right to Work and Hall talked about what a major victory it was for working people. Hall said that even when So-Called “Right to Work” was allowed in West Virginia, companies still didn’t bring business there. He said, if anything, only more union jobs were created during the time. Lastly, he talked about how So-Called “Right to Work” does nothing to promote jobs and how it really is “Right to Work” for less.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about yesterday, March 26, being the National Day of Action, pushing to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
On Feb. 27, Dr. Gary Freed, professor at the University of Michigan, discussed the similarities and differences between healthcare back in the 1970’s compared to now.
Dr. Freed talked about the healthcare plan that President Richard Nixon proposed in the 1970’s and spoke about how there are some aspects to it that were the same as ObamaCare. Part of Obamacare said that employers with at least 50 employees are required to provide healthcare for them, but in Nixon’s plan, it required the employers to provide the healthcare to the employees even if there were less than 50 employees. He made other comparisons to President Nixon’s healthcare plan with ObamaCare, but the biggest difference in the political parties that proposed these plans are simple; Nixon’s was Republican and Obama’s was Democratic. Finally, Dr. Freed discussed single payer healthcare and the problems that he sees with it, but also a scenario where he sees it working out.
John Murphy from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters spoke about the Butch-Lewis Act, which involves protecting pensions for workers and retirees. He also discussed why Republicans attack pensions. One of the reasons behind this is they believe that keeping pensions in place saves unions, and Republicans, generally speaking, do not stand for unions.
The investigation into Ken Johnson and why he continues to request being reimbursed his monthly maximum of $1,200 was discussed during the Jan. 23 edition of America’s Work Force.
Mark Naymik, writer for Cleveland.com, discussed the continued investigation looking into Ken Johnson and why he requests his maximum monthly reimbursement of $1,200 every month without offering any receipts or valid explanations. Naymik said that Johnson had recently requested $400 for gas after supposedly driving 700 miles for business in November, but did not provide detailed readings of his odometer before and after his trip. Naymik also said that Johnson requests reimbursement for gas for mowing lawns, but did not provide information on where he got the gas from, how much gas he bought, where the lawns were at that were supposedly mowed, and who did the mowing of the grass. As a result of Johnson’s shady activity, in order to receive reimbursements, council members will now be required to submit detailed summaries of what they spent money on, where they spent the money, and how much they spent.
Ron Herrera, International Brotherhood of Teamsters International Vice President and Director of the Solid Waste and Recycling Division, discussed the march for sanitation workers during his Jan. 23 appearance on AWF. Herrera said that the march has been taking place in Memphis, Tenn for over 30 years to celebrate and honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s birthday and his life work to spread his message of promoting and protecting the dignity of work. He also talked about the issues that waste workers still face across the country.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc spoke about the victory for Los Angeles teachers reaching a tentative agreement after a 21-hour bargaining session, ending their six-day strike.
On Nov. 28, Naymik provided an update on the issues involving Johnson, who among other things, has been reimbursed $1,200 every month for the past 11 years for “ward services.” The FBI’s public corruption squad is currently investigating Johnson and the Buckeye Shaker Square Development Corp. that Johnson has for years supported with tax dollars. The Johnson scandal prompted Cleveland residents to bring about a charter change to reduce the amount of members on Cleveland’s City Council from 17 down to nine. This proposed charter change would also reduce council’s pay from $80,133 a year to $58,000.
Tyler Longpine, Political Director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, also appeared on the show and discussed his thoughts about the lame duck session of Congress and multi-employer pension funds. He talked about upcoming issues that the next Congress will have to address in January, such as infrastructure.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc provided his thoughts on the General Motors layoffs and President Trump’s response to the news of the shutdowns.
Today on our show we had Mark Naymik and Rita Lewis. Mark is from Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer and Rita is widow to Butch Lewis who worked with the Teamsters. Mark Naymik began his time on the show with talking about President Trump and his speech at the United Nations and then spent a while talking about the controversy surrounding Ken Johnson. To conclude his time on the show, Naymik talked about politics, state politics in Ohio involving Cordray and Dewine, the ECOT scandal, and Hyland Software being mentioned on a subpoena served by public corruption investigators. Rita Lewis was our second guest on the show today and she discussed pension plans. She talked about how hard her late husband, Butch Lewis of the Teamsters, fought for keeping pensions alive, Butch Lewis Act, and how it ultimately led to his death. Now, Lewis picks up where Butch left off and continues the fight and will not let the issue die out. We also discuss President Trump fighting court orders on what he can do with government employees, right to vote, voter registration day, and AFGE Local 3399 having problems with a VA. Lots of interesting stuff today on the show!