Alternative Visions

Alternative Visions - An Emerging Global Economic ‘Perfect Storm’? - 02/19/14

Dr. Jack Rasmus explains why the global economic crisis that emerged in 2007-08 may now be entering a ‘3rd Phase’.  Dr. Rasmus discusses what’s happening now with the economies in China, Japan, Emerging Markets (India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, So. Africa and others), and Europe. Why is China on a long term growth slowdown path? Why is Japan’s USA-like central bank QE money injection policy failing to stimulate Japan’s real economy and leading to Japan’s ‘fourth dip’ recession since 2008? Why is Europe drifting toward deflation and its recovery stagnating, with France now the ‘bad boy’ economy of Europe? Why are the emerging market economies locked into a growing crisis, with massive capital flight flowing back to the west, falling currency values, and inevitable slowing economies? What are the possible ‘contagion effects’ between the three ‘stormfronts’—China, Emerging Markets, Eurozone—and how are ‘mutually amplifying’ feedbacks about to exacerbate problems in each—creating a three front global economic ‘perfect storm’?  Finally, what might this ‘Emerging Economic Perfect Storm’ mean for the USA economy, once again slowing in 2014 after its latest ‘false start’ last summer? (For more on this topic, read Dr. Rasmus’s forthcoming March 2014 ‘Z’ magazine article, ‘The Emerging Perfect Storm’, his last October 2013 ‘Z’ article, ‘The Slowing Global Economy’, and shorter entries on his blog, jackrasmus.com, since January).

Alternative Visions - US Grass Roots Protests Rising? - 02/12/14

Dr. Jack Rasmus welcomes guests, Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, to discuss the rising crescendo of grass roots protests in the US and “what’s next”.  Organizers of the popular website, ‘popularresistance.org’, that reports daily on grass roots movements in the USA, Zeese and Flowers give their impression of what appears to be growing resistance and protests along a number of fronts.  Jack and guests discuss growing movements of opposition to TPP and free trade, what’s happening in North Carolina, restaurant workers’ strikes, New York city demonstrations, labor union reform slates and movements, XL pipelines and other environmental protests, and other regional protests. Discussion focuses on ‘what next’ and how to bring more coordination nationally between the various ‘single issue’ movements and the need for developing a common national strategy by all, while retaining local movements’ integrity.  Jack argues for the need to consider a National Organizing Convention of the divers movements, out of which initial agreement on common elements of strategy might emerge, including an incipient national coordinating organization and the need for political action independent of the two political parties. Jack argues unification of movements and the organizational question are key tasks now on the agenda, if protests are to rise beyond localized and ‘single issue’ politics.

Alternative Visions - Ellen Brown Candidacy for California State Treasurer - 02/05/14

Dr. Jack Rasmus welcomes back Ellen Brown to discuss her just announced candidacy for California State Treasurer.  Ellen explains how, as Treasurer, she would create a California Public Bank, modeled on the North Dakota state public bank.  The advantages of public banking are explained, and how it would operate in California to invest the State’s current $54 billion investment fund pool to benefit the people of California, instead of big global financial institutions.  Ellen explains why low cost 1% or less loans to California citizens and businesses are possible, if a public bank existed, and why recent past proposals for a Public Bank in California got to governor Jerry Brown’s desk and were allowed to expire.  Jack and Ellen also discuss the likelihood of future ‘bail ins’ in the next financial crisis, where depositors would have their savings confiscated in exchange for worthless bank stock to bail out the banks next time. Jack also gives his view of ‘Bitcoins’ as ‘digital tulips’ that will eventually collapse but are a threat nonetheless to credit card companies and government tax collectors.

Alternative Visions - Are Unions At a Strategic Impasse?—Interview with Gregg Shotwell, UAW - 01/29/14

Continuing a theme of recent Alternative Visions shows, Jack Rasmus interviews long-time United Autoworkers rank and file member and activist, Gregg Shotwell. Focusing discussion on what’s wrong with Union organizing and bargaining strategies in particular, Gregg shares his experiences of decades in the UAW which witnessed that once powerful union’s shift from an emphasis and reliance on union members themselves more to a model of union as Human Resources Partner to management. Gregg explains how the UAW leadership has shifted to ‘organizing the employer’ and emphasizing ‘neutrality agreements’ with management in its organizing strategy; and in bargaining strategy, to accepting the company’s bargaining agenda and discouraging members’ self-reliance on the job to resolve problems. Gregg explains how workers need to ‘occupy the workplace’ and focus on ‘inside strikes’ more, as well as understand that voting for a leadership change by itself often changes nothing in the end. Jack suggests new strategies—and new tactics—are also needed in union-community alliances initiatives.

Alternative Visions - Save Our Unions’ Book Interview with Author, Steve Early - 01/22/14

Jack interviews author, Steve Early, on the release last week of Steve’s new book, ‘Save Our Unions’.  An important book providing numerous cases and examples of specific union worker efforts over the past four decades to defend their unions and interests.  Jack discusses with Steve, in the attempt to glean from the book’s many case examples what lessons it suggests for union labor’s current strategic impasse in bargaining, organizing, and political strategy—a continuing theme of recent Alternative Vision shows and interviews.  Jack and Steve discuss the strategic implications of the past four decades of partial victories, and numerous defeats, suffered by union labor in America, and what ‘needs to be done’ going forward if unions are to rise again to play the economic and social role in the future they once did in the past. Jack argues more ‘thinking out of the box’ by unionists is needed in order to resurrect union labor, including revising internal union structure and organizational practices—locally, nationally, and globally.

Alternative Visions - Jobs, Budgets and Bernanke’s Bank - 01/15/14

Dr. Jack Rasmus discusses in detail last Friday’s employment report by the government, this week’s agreement by Congress on a budget until October 2014, and the performance of Bernanke’s Federal Reserve as he retires on January 31.  Jack describes the December jobs report as a disaster, not just in terms of a dramatic drop in job creation but in the even greater exodus of workers from the labor force.  Jack refers to his prediction of last November that December jobs creation would falter (see his ‘False Positives’ blog articles). Congress’s just approved passage of another $1.1 trillion budget bill is then analyzed. The show concludes with a brief assessment of the performance of Bernanke as Federal Reserve chair the past 7 years, showing how ‘shadow banks’ and ‘very high net worth’ investors have been the major beneficiaries, with financial asset increases in excess of ten trillion dollars since the financial crash.

Alternative Visions - Boeing Workers Tell Their Story of Force Concessions - 01/08/14

Jack Rasmus interviews Boeing workers who over the weekend were forced into massive concessions by a combined offensive by the Boeing Corp., in alliance with politicians, their International Union office, and suspiciously organized community groups paid by sources yet unknown.  Listen to the story of how, after rejecting company proposals 2 to 1 to end their pensions, dismantle their health care, reduce wages to minimum levels in an 11 year contract extension, they were forced by a vote over the holidays to accept the agreement when 8000 of their members were on holiday and couldn’t vote. The concession agreement at Boeing is historic and a likely template of things yet to come. No longer are concessions forced by companies in financial trouble. Boeing reported profits of $4.7 billion after the settlement, and after having paid its stockholders $10 billion in buybacks and $2 billion in dividends just last month.  The Boeing debacle represents a case example of union labor at a strategic impasse, in its bargaining strategy, political strategy, and community alliances strategy.The Boeing worker guests on today’s show were:

 Shannon Ryker

Shannon Ryker began working at Boeing at 17, and has been an employed 8 years at the company as a final assembly installer on the 767 aircraft and a structures mechanic on the 777 aircraft. She recently started a union support Facebook page called Rosiesmachinists751, which in the last eight months has grown from 8 members to almost 1600.

Jim Levitt

Jim is a 35 year veteran at Boeing, working as a machinist and a tool & die maker. He was at the same time a member of Impact Visuals, a cooperatively owned photo agency specializing in labor and social change from 1985-2001. His photographs have appeared in AFL-CIO, IAM, Teamsters, and other union publications, along with BusinessWeek, Time, the NY Times, Labor Notes, and many other outlets. Before working at Boeing Jim was a graduate student in history.

Hazel Powers

Hazel is a Tooling Inspector at Boeing, a 55 year old single parent, and has worked at Boeing since 1979.  She is an IAM District Council Alternate delegate and has held past IAM Local Lodge positions as well. Hazel voted to reject the Boeing contract due to concessions with pension and other benefit cuts, and concern the new contract language is not specific enough

about keeping new aircraft 777X work in Puget Sound. “ 

 

Alternative Visions - What’s Wrong with Economists: Part 3 - 01/02/14

Dr. Jack Rasmus follows up to parts 1 and 2 in previous weeks on this topic, presenting his own views on the causes of the economic crisis that erupted in 2007-08, its evolution of slow, stop-go recovery since 2009, and its likely trajectory in coming years.  Providing an overview of his 2010 book, ‘Epic Recession: Prelude to Global Depression’, and his follow up 2012 book, ‘Obama’s Economy’, he rejects the analysis of mainstream economics, both its ‘hybrid Keynesian’ and ‘Retro Classicalist’ perspectives, explaining the need for an entirely new conceptual apparatus to better understand the recent crisis and its continuing global evolution.  Looking at depressions in the 1800s in the US, and the often ignored financial crash of 1907-08 and ‘epic’ recession of 1908-13, Rasmus explains his own  ‘3rd way’ theoretical and historical economic analysis and how it differs from mainstream economics (Hybrids and Retros) in explaining the origins and evolution of the current crisis.  He concludes with an overview of his forthcoming works, ‘What’s Wrong With Economists’, to appear in late 2014 and the planned sequel, ‘Transitions to Global Depression’, scheduled for 2015.

Alternative Visions - Are US Unions at a Strategic Impasse, Part 3? - 12/18/13

Jack Rasmus continues the discussion series on the topic ‘Are US Unions At a Strategic Impasse’, interviewing long time, experienced grass roots union leaders on the state of union strategy today. Topics raised include unions ‘Organizing’, ‘Industrial-Bargaining’, ‘Political’, and ‘Community Alliances’ strategies. Jack welcomes today, as his latest guest in the on-going discussion, Ray Rogers, originator of the ‘Corporate Campaign’ strategy approach developed first in the 1980s in organizing and industrial-bargaining fights with corporate giants, J.P. Stevens and Hormel & Co. foods—as well as in corporate campaigns that continue today against Coca-Cola and other corporate behemoths. Jack and Ray discuss how a ‘corporate campaign’ strategy approach challenges current union approaches—and how a corporate campaign might be implemented today in current union worker struggles at Boeing Corp. and Verizon.’

 

‘Ray Rogers is a union activist and lead organizer for dozens of corporate campaigns since the 1970s, across many industries in the food, insurance, airlines, paper, textiles, and various New York City public sectors, including Coca Cola, RJ Reynolds, International Paper, Hormel, JP Stevens, American Airlines, NY city transit authority, Brooklyn Gas and others. For more on the corporate campaign strategy as alternative to current union organizing-industrial/bargaining strategies, see his website at corporatecampaign.org

Alternative Visions - Are US Unions Today at a Strategic Impasse, Part 2 - 12/11/13

Continuing the discussion initiated on November 20 with guests with long-time grass roots experience in the American union movement, Dr. Jack Rasmus invites Jerry Gordon and Alan Benjamin, to discuss the general topic: Have the basic strategies of US Labor employed since the 1980s now reached an impasse and dead end?. Both guests have more than 40 years of experience each in the union movement, and offer their comments on the state, and future direction, of union labor's current political, industrial (bargaining, organizing, strikes), and community alliance strategies.  Topics addressed include the recent Chicago teachers strike, the fight to protect jobs at Boeing in Seattle, the recent AFLCIO convention, organizing the south, labor's increasingly shabby treatment by the Democratic Party, and other examples, as discussants take on the topic of 'what needs to change strategically and organizationally for union labor in America to reverse its decades-long decline.

The theme of today's show will continue in coming weeks. Tune in next wednesday, December 18, when Jack interviews long-time union strategist, Ray Rogers.

Jerry Gordon is a former representative of the United Food & Commercial Workers for decades, now retired, and currently secretary of the Emergency Labor Network and Labor Fightback coalition.  Alan Benjamin is a long time delegate to the San Francisco Central Labor Council, AFLCIO, a member of OPEIU, and active in labor immigration coalition work.