[GPSCC-chat] Apple Protest
Spencer Graves
spencer.graves at structuremonitoring.com
Thu Sep 25 07:55:18 PDT 2014
Thanks very much Brian: I need to be more precise in stating what is
known, which means being more tentative about its effects. sg
On 9/25/2014 7:05 AM, Brian wrote:
> I wasn't soliciting support. I was reporting the facts.
>
> SEIU did the Democrats an enormous favor to the Democrats by taking the blame for the third consecutive
> torpedoing of the California DISCLOSE Act so the Democrats didn't have to sabotage it themselves as they
> did in the previous two incarnations of the bill.
>
> How exactly SEIU had the power to foreclose the issue has never been to my knowledge explained. Do we
> have any actual evidence that SEIU opposition was the controlling factor, or is this simply a cover story?
> The DISCLOSE Act was popular among SEIU rank and file, and local leaders, and I suspect that any order
> from SEIU leadership about opposition to the bill would have been very costly internally.
>
> Perhaps SEIU's legal counsel advised them that he/she could not advocate that they support any legislation
> that would limit their power to engage in anonymous political ad campaigns. Of course he or she couldn't.
> His or her duty is to the narrow interests of the client (and to her own interests in serving those narrow
> interests unswervingly), not to the greater public good. The obligation of SEIU leadership is to recognize
> that the opinion of their highly-paid and highly-self-interested legal technician should be regarded as merely
> advisory.
>
> Perhaps SEIU got some deal from the Democrats for this favor, or from the CA Chamber of Commerce. Maybe
> payoffs to individuals were involved. Maybe the story that SEIU torpedoed the bill is a myth offered by
> Democrats who lacked the courage to overtly oppose the bill this time.
>
> I can only speculate. Politics is complicated. If a stressed-out friend lets me down now and then, that may
> alter the friendship but it doesn't have to destroy it.
>
> Brian
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:39:56 -0700
> From: spencer.graves at structuremonitoring.com
> To: snug.bug at hotmail.com; rainbeaufriend at riseup.net; wrolley at charter.net; sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
> Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Apple Protest
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Are you aware that that SEIU
> sabotaged SB 52, the California Disclose Act, which would have
> required political ads to prominently identify the primary funders
> (e.g., David Koch vs. Citizens for Improving Democracy)?
> According to salon.com, in opposing SB 52 the SEIU stated, “There
> is no reason to make any additional changes". "Other unions
> followed SEIU’s lead. In an example of the need for transparency,
> it’s hard to find formal opposition to the DISCLOSE Act on labor
> websites. However, Salon has obtained opposition letters from CTA,
> the California School Employees Association and the state Labor
> Federation, a coalition of over 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win
> union affiliates. CTA even argued SB 52 would violate the
> Constitution’s free speech clause, a nod to the Citizens United
> ruling, even though the Supreme Court in that case affirmed
> disclosure as a viable method to police campaign spending."
> (www.salon.com/2014/08/27/principles_be_damned_how_campaign_finance_reform_just_got_crushed_in_a_liberal_state)
>
>
>
>
>
> Can someone explain to me why we should support an
> organization that opposes democracy by supporting the right of
> unions and big money to engage in deceitful political
> advertizing?
>
>
>
>
>
> We need a strong, intelligent labor movement. However, I
> for one will not support any individual or organization like SEIU
> that seem committed to deceit.
>
>
>
>
>
> Organized labor in the US has been losing ground for 40
> years. I'd like an honest discussion of why people think that has
> happened and what can be done to reverse that trend. These same
> 40 years have seen increased consolidation of ownership of the
> commercial media with the virtual elimination of investigative
> journalism from the nation's airways, where most people get their
> news and world view. Any media organization that sells
> advertising sells behavior change in their audience to
> advertisers. Increased consolidation in ownership means reduced
> competition for audience -- and increased leverage for advertisers
> in shaping the editorial content. Labor does not play in that
> arena. (This helps explain Brian's observation that the SEIU
> Apple protest got zero coverage in the media.)
>
>
>
>
>
> Also, do labor unions contribute to all credible candidates
> or only those (usually Democrats) who support their political
> agenda? Big money contributes to all credible candidates, and
> they win no matter which candidate wins. If labor doesn't do
> that, they lose when their candidates lose.
>
>
>
>
>
> I'd like to see organized labor refocus their current
> political campaign budget to investigative journalism and not
> spend a penny on political campaigns. They could increase the
> impact of their investigative journalism by sponsoring debates
> between leading figures on issues of the day organized by their
> own investigative journalists and disseminated over their own
> YouTube and similar channels. Unions could then encourage their
> own members to support candidates and issues -- sometimes with
> different union member supporting different candidates in the same
> race. This could then give them "access" no matter who wins. If
> they did this, I believe they would change the political
> environment in the US today so much it would more than offset what
> they would lose by stopping their purchases of deceitful
> advertising.
>
>
>
>
>
> However, I have not researched this enough to be confident
> of everything said above. I would appreciate further comments on
> this.
>
>
>
>
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Spencer
>
>
>
>
>
> On 9/24/2014 5:06 PM, Brian wrote:
>
>
>
> There was a SEIU protest outside Apple's flagship store in Palo Alto last week that went completely blacked out
> by the media.
>
> http://www.paloaltoonline.com/square/2014/09/22/street-level---the-unreported-news--seiu-shuts-down-university-avenue#comment_form
>
> Of course it would have been nice if SEIU could have provided some photos and/or videos to go with the story of
> the blackout.
>
> SEIU wants to organize the janitors and the security guards at Apple. Currently those functions are served by
> non-union employees of outside contractors--and working conditions are poor.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: rainbeaufriend at riseup.net
> Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 06:09:26 -0700
> To: wrolley at charter.net; sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
> Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Apple Protest
>
> Yep that was us, and I got the audio from KGO and intend to pay it when I get the chance. My blog post was republished (slightly edited) at http://www.popularresistance.org/apple-could-lead-if-it-had-an-iconscience/
>
>
>
> Greenvolution is NOW!
>
>
>
> Drew
>
> On September 9, 2014 10:15:42 AM PDT, Wes Rolley <wrolley at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Listened to morning news on KTVU (Channel 2) today and their story
> re: Apple Announcement included a segment on a "planned protest"
> organized by the De Anza Greens and joined by ......
>
>
>
> Not sure who got the word out, but good work.
>
>
>
> KGO story had no such reference.
>
> --
>
> "Anytime you have an opportunity to make things better and you
> don't, then you are wasting your time on this Earth"
> - Roberto Clemente
>
>
>
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>
> --
> Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
> President and Chief Technology Officer
> Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
> 751 Emerson Ct.
> San José, CA 95126
> ph: 408-655-4567
> web: www.structuremonitoring.com
>
--
Spencer Graves, PE, PhD
President and Chief Technology Officer
Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc.
751 Emerson Ct.
San José, CA 95126
ph: 408-655-4567
web: www.structuremonitoring.com
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