We The People

Unless we see ourselves — individually and collectively – as the engine for real societal reform – no matter how hard that may be to imagine given our developed habits of disengagement — our vote on election day is wasted.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/27/we_the_people/

Don't Allow Coal Companies to Annihilate Streams

The Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of approving a proposal that would allow coal-mining companies to dump mining waste directly into flowing streams, filling in the streams entirely and destroying all the life in them. Since 1983 the Stream Buffer Zone rule has prohibited mining within 100 feet of flowing streams, but now the Bush administration and the Office of Surface Mining are trying to push through an under-the-table, last-minute effort to remove this protection. If the EPA approves the repeal, it will be perfectly legal for coal companies to blow off the top of a mountain, then dump the waste straight into streams, killing the rare salamanders, fish, and other species that live in Appalachian waterways. EPA Administrator Johnson could make the decision at any moment, so time is critical. Please take a minute to tell the EPA not to approve the Stream Buffer Zone revision, and pass this alert along to as many of your friends as possible.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26129

Tell Congress to Break Up Milk Monopolies

Over two years ago, the Department of Justice started an investigation into anti-trust violations by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the company that picks up over a third of the milk from U.S. farms. The DOJ has never released the findings of their investigation and we need Congress to shine some light on what is going on in the dairy industry.

Tell the House and Senate Judiciary Committees it’s time for them to conduct hearings into anti-competitive behavior by dairy giants like DFA.

http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26126

States are not providing adequate voting equipment, machines, stations and staff

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1331/t/6410/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26109

In 2004 tens of thousands of voters were denied their right to vote in Ohio when election officials provided inadequate voting machines in African American communities. Some people waited in line to vote for longer than 12 hours. Many thousands of others gave up and did not vote. This alone may have been enough to change the outcome of the 2004 election.

Well, it’s happening again.

A recent report indicated that college-age and African American precincts in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia will not have sufficient numbers of voting machines or election staff to handle the number of voters expected on Election Day. Help us to let these officials know that tens of thousands of people are watching their actions and documenting what occurs on Election Day. Even if you do not live in these states it is important for these officials to hear from you. They need to know they will be held accountable for their actions. This action is being taken in concert with a coalition of organizations working under the banner “No More Stolen Elections.” See www.NoMoreStolenElections.org.

Click and send a letter to the governor, congressional delegation (House and Senate), the secretary of state as well as election administrators where questions have been raised about the adequacy of the number of voting machines and staff.

Please take action now.

Say NO to the Gulf Council's unsafe plan for Open Ocean Fish Farming

We all love to eat fish, and we know that much of the fish we love is in high demand. Because of this demand, more and more fish are grown in huge, unsafe, and often overcrowded cages in open ocean waters called offshore fish farms, or aquaculture. In our decades of work, we have learned some tough lessons about offshore aquaculture, and unfortunately those lessons are about to be ignored by fishery managers in the Gulf of Mexico. I need your help to urge them not to go forward with their unsafe plan. Here's why:

Salmon farming has taught us a lot about the risks involved with offshore aquaculture. With so many fish packed closely together in open ocean cages, disease is much more likely. Without a doubt, some fish escape and transfer these diseases, such as contagious sea lice, to wild populations where the affects can be devastating. Studies show that some salmon populations may go extinct and most wild fish populations are declining in areas where salmon farming occurs.

Sadly, the fish farming plan proposed by Gulf fishery managers fails to protect against these substantial risks and many others. We need strong and smart national standards that will protect every part of our ocean BEFORE aquaculture moves forward in the Gulf … or any of our nation’s waters.

We must protect the health of our ocean and the environmental interests of the public before expanding fish farming in our ocean. This approach is absolutely essential to helping balance our growing demand for healthy seafood with the needs of protecting our ocean and our coastal economies.


http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11607&JServSessionIdr001=3uw4525ut2.app44b

Equal Pay for Equal Work

The Paycheck Fairness Act will make filing a discrimination claim easier, provide protection for workers who blow the whistle on pay discrimination, and strengthen the Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure fair pay for all workers.

http://www.pay-equity.org/info-leg.html

IUF Challenges Job Destruction at Nestlé, Unilever on World Day for Decent Work

Share this article.



The IUF is targeting the systematic, programmed destruction of permanent work at two major food TNCs - Nestlé (the world's largest food company) and Unilever (number 3) - as unions worldwide highlight the menacing spread of precarious work on October 7 - World Day for Decent Work.

Casual, insecure, subcontracted jobs are not an accidental byproduct of the constant redefinition of "core" business, or the search for "flexibility". The destruction of permanent work has become a major pillar of corporate human resources strategy, implemented to fund record dividends and share buybacks in the name of "shareholder value". Alongside their brands, the companies are manufacturing insecurity. Precarious jobs are corporate policy for shrinking and ultimately extinguishing the number of workers who retain a direct employment relationship with the corporations whose products they manufacture - and with whom they can negotiate their terms and conditions of employment. Precarious work is union busting.

Nestlé and Unilever have been brutally and systematically eliminating permanent work while touting the virtues of job creation and "corporate social responsibility." Behind their famous "billion dollar brands" the former Nestlé or Unilever worker has been increasingly replaced by an abusive system of outsourcing, casualization, "temporary" hiring and "co-packing" which is steadily eliminating the use of permanent employment contracts.

To highlight the leading role of these two food giants in destroying decent work the IUF is launching two new websites.

Nestlewatch and Unileverwatch are interactive sites with translation toolbars for multi-language use. We've launched them to challenge these companies' systematic cultivation of insecure, precarious work, to put a corporate face on the process of job destruction, and to assist in fighting back.

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=5399&view_records=1&ww=1&en=1

Tell Congress: You Deserve a Better Bailout!

When the House of Representatives rejected a financial bailout package on Monday, Congress had an opportunity to address objections to the proposal and ensure the rights of Main Street were protected. Instead, the Senate hastily added provisions - many wholly unrelated to fixing the economy - that caused the bill to balloon to a colossal 451 pages. Most legislators haven't had the time to read or understand it.

This is an outrage! Public Citizen opposes this bill. If the bill is enacted, we will urge Congress to return to this issue immediately after the New Year, re-regulating the finance industry and providing needed consumer protections and relief.

Write your congressional representatives TODAY and tell them to oppose H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as passed by the Senate.

http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26039

No Bailout for Big Oil!

Lobbyists from Big Oil have snuck more corporate welfare into the Wall St. bailout package-- this time for Big Oil's dirtiest forms of oil production. Take action now!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/790/t/7370/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26042