Chart of the day.

Via AFL-CIO NOW...


Quite a coinkydink, huh?

Signs of the times.

Via The Stand...

Chart of the day.

Via Artistdogboy…

Quote of the day.

David Goldstein, cub reporter, talks to an anonymous 'Republican operative' about AG and gubernatorial wanna-be Rob McKenna and gets this...

"Attorney general is the politically easiest job in the world. He's been doing press conferences with McGruff the Crime Dog for the past seven years."

Clever, and not really harsh. If I came up with that one, I'd want credit. I wonder what our 'operative' is afraid of.

If you were wondering why unions would be (and you should be) afraid of Governor McKenna, Goldy's got the goods.

Going around…

...and too good to pass up. I snagged it from Dallas Taylor at Anticontrarian...

A unionized public employee, a teabagger and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the teabagger and says, "Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie."

Good question…

…from karoli at Crooks & Liars…

What group of citizens will be considered "dangerous" after unions are broken?

Copied to the "First they came for…" file.

Me too…

…too. Neil Sinhababu, on the immanent NFL lockout...

There's causes that I'll get more excited about, like the situation of ordinary union people in Wisconsin, but I hope the players win.

There's a core group of dedicated union busters among the NFL owners. Sure, there's an element of millionaires vs. billionaires that makes it hard to worry about beyond the implications for my fantasy league, but at its heart it's just labor vs. capital with a very high, and hard earned, wage scale.

The Player's Union has made concessions, stands ready to bargain and wants to work. They deserve our support.

Good question.

Heather at Crooks & Liars has one for Mike Huckleb…erm…Huckabee…

I'm just wondering Huck, how many unions would Jesus want to see busted?

Hmmm…haven't heard from Republican Jesus for awhile. I'm not sure he's the same Jesus as Mike Huckabee's Jesus. Only Jesus knows, I suppose. He's the one I want to hear from, though.

From the "Me too" file.

Doug Hill at Balloon Juice...

I don’t think there’s that many “independent voters” who hate unions so much that they’ll base their vote on which candidate busts unions harder. But I think there are plenty of center and right-center union members who will vote against a candidate who seeks to end collective bargain rights.

Me too.

Even more. Based on the talk across the bar (a generally reliable measure in my experience) there are quite a few folks out there who don't care much for unions and who wouldn't want one themselves, but are kind of appalled at the suggestion that people who do like 'em and want 'em would be deprived of their right to have 'em.

From the "Look for the union label" file.

OAKLAND, Calif. - As organized labor faces declining membership, one of the country's most storied unions is looking to a new growth industry: marijuana.

The Teamsters added nearly 40 new members earlier this month by organizing the country's first group of unionized marijuana growers…

In the "Lost opportunities" file, I see that 420 is already the local number for dump truck drivers in Los Angeles.

What’s wrong in the Gulf of Mexico?

Lots of things, of course, but Dean Corgey, Seafarers International Union vice president for the Gulf Coast region, notes one that kind of surprises me, though on reflection I suppose it shouldn't...

The offshore exploration, production and service industry in the Gulf of Mexico, to the best of our knowledge, is 100 percent nonunion and increasingly foreign. Past attempts to organize these workers have been met with bitter opposition–not from employees but from employers.

Unions train workers, enforce safety regs and protect whistle blowers. How much difference would a union workforce have made in the decisions and actions that led up to the current crisis?

100% nonunion and totally screwed up. Seems to go hand in hand.

Solidarity on the high seas…

…kicks pirate (ahem) booty.

We’re American seamen. We’re union members. We stuck together, and we did our jobs. And that’s how we did it.

John Cronan, 3rd Engineer, Maersk Alabama

From the "Since you asked…" file.

Josh Harkinson at MoJo wonders...

Are Starbucks and Whole Foods Union Busters?

Since you asked, yep. But you knew that.