Tag Archives: right-to-work

Oily, environmentally toxic pyramid of greed being erected in Detroit by the Koch brothers

By Mark | May 19, 2013

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of traveling along the Detroit River lately, there’s apparently a new landmark on the Motor City waterfront – a three-story tall pile of petroleum coke, which covers an entire city block. According to a report in today’s New York Times, we have libertarian industrialists Charles and [...]

Posted in Detroit, Environment, Uncategorized | Also tagged Alberta, Ambassador Bridge, Andy Hartz, Canada, carbon emissions, Charles Koch, China, CO2, Coke, corporatocracy, David Koch, Detroit River, Gary Peters, global climate change, Global Warming, John Conyers, Ken Boyd, Kerry Satterthwaite, Keystone XL pipeline, Koch brothers, Koch Industries, lame duck, Libertarianism, Lorne Stockman, Marathon Petroleum, Matty Moroun, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, oil, Oil Change International, oil sands, petcoke, petroleum coke, Pure Michigan, tar sands | 30 Comments

Vindictive Michigan Republicans seek retribution against U-M and Wayne State for renegotiating union contracts prior to the March 28 roll-out of right-to-work legislation

By Mark | March 19, 2013

A bill passed this morning by the House Higher Education Subcommittee, in a 4-3 vote along party lines, would cut an additional $41 million in state funding from the University of Michigan, and $27.5 million in funding from Wayne State University. According to a report in today’s Detroit Free Press, this is being done to [...]

Posted in Education, Michigan, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Al Pscholka, anti-science, domestic partner benefits, higher education, Higher Education Subcommittee, lame duck, Michigan House of Representatives, Randy Richardville, Rick Snyder, those anti-science Republicans, union busting, unions, University of Michigan, Wayne State University | 20 Comments

Michigan’s first for-profit charter school goes union in Detroit… Will others follow?

By Mark | February 12, 2013

A few days ago, something positive happened on the Michigan education landscape. The teachers of the Cesar Chavez Academy, a charter school in southwest Detroit, voted to unionize. What follows is my admittedly too short interview with Daniel Kukuk, one of the American Federation of Teachers organizers who helped make it happen. MARK: So, what [...]

Posted in Detroit, Education, Michigan | Also tagged American Federation of Teachers, Arts Academy in the Woods, Cesar Chavez Academy, charter schools, Daniel Kukuk, Detroit, Education Achievement Authority, education reform, for-profit charter schools, Fraser, Michigan Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, National Labor Relations Board, Southwest Detroit, teachers unions, The Leona Group, union organizing, unions | 13 Comments

County Commissioner Andy LaBarre attacked by far-right local radio personality Thayrone X for moving to renegotiate union contracts prior to Right-to-Work legislation going into effect

By Mark | February 8, 2013

On the way home from work the other day, listening to our local hate talk radio station, WAAM, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing my friend, County Commissioner Andy LaBarre, called a ‘psychotic lame-brain fascist weenie clown’ by Ann Arbor’s own tea-partying, Michael Savage wannabe Thayrone X. It would seem that Thayrone was less [...]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged Andy LaBarre, collective bargaining, hate speech, lame duck, Thayrone X, unions, WAAM, Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners | 24 Comments

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer, without the support of the UAW, faces attacks from within… What’s next?

By Mark | February 2, 2013

According to a report on MLive, Michigan Republicans are demanding that the investigation into Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer’s involvement in a 2010 plot to split the conservative vote in Metro Detroit by running fake Tea Party candidates against establishment Republicans, be reopened. Here’s a clip: …Bobby Schostak, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, [...]