Thom Hartmann: Yep, it’s all about the money when it comes to conservatives and republicans. They’ll say oh no we’re really concerned about immigration, we’re concerned about jobs, we’re concerned about the environment. NO they’re concerned about rich people’s money. That’s the bottom line, that’s what it’s all about. Doug Cunningham with Labor Radio News on the line with us. He is the producer, reporter of Workers Independent News. LaborRadio.org the website. Doug, welcome back to the program. Great meeting you the other day by the way, was it in Madison we met?

Doug Cunningham: Yes it was, backstage at the Barrymore theater. And it was happy, I was glad to be able to say hi to you, first time I’ve seen you in person after all these years of being on the air with you, so.

Thom Hartmann: Yeah, very, very nice. So, the United Auto Workers, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Rainbow Push and a bunch of other organizations have a bit of a problem with JP Morgan Chase?

Doug Cunningham: Yeah a big problem with them and now Chase has a big problem as well. Because the UAW and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee and Rainbow Push and others are, have decided, excuse me, have decided to pull out hundreds of millions of dollars from Chase bank as a protest because of Chase’s refusal to declare moratorium, a temporary two year moratorium on home foreclosures in Michigan, and also for the Chase role in financing RJ Reynolds which is involved in some farm worker issues in the south. And the UAW is part of the, the new UAW president, Bob King’s, reemphasis or refocus on social justice issues. And so they’ve declared they’re going to pull out hundreds of millions of dollars. The bulk of that money coming from the UAW strike fund which at one time was up to nearly a billion dollars. And that money is being pulled out and not only that but they’re encouraging others to close Chase accounts and pull money out of Chase for similar reasons.

Thom Hartmann: Well I’m pleased I don’t have a Chase account. We were with one of the big banks when we first moved to Portland. We moved to a local credit union in Portland, Unitus, which is just an absolutely spectacular credit union. I just closed my account there and now we’ve got to open an account here in DC. But, which we haven’t gotten to yet. But you know I think that all over America. I mean this was my new years resolution was to move my money into a credit union. Because credit unions are owned by their investors. Small local banks are good too. But there you’ve got some small local rich guys making money off it, which is, you know I don’t object to it as much as I do Chase. But…

Doug Cunningham: That’s right. The credit union…

Thom Hartmann: But I’d rather have a credit union.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah credit unions are a more progressive choice in many ways, you know.

Thom Hartmann: Yeah they are.

Doug Cunningham: And this is an extreme case. With UAW’s decision here, this is a very important step. Because you know as we all know it’s all about the money, right? So…

Thom Hartmann: Yeah, I’m surprised the UAW doesn’t have their own credit union.

Doug Cunningham: Well hey that might be a great idea to put in their ear, you know. I mean I don’t know where they’re taking their money when they pull it out of Chase.

Thom Hartmann: I know the union that I’m a member of, AFTRA which is an AFL-CIO union, they have their own credit union and in fact that’s something that I’m looking at. But anyway, okay let’s move on. The WIN Report from Paris?

Doug Cunningham: Yeah, from Paris.

Thom Hartmann: I talked about this last week. You know there was absolutely, and I predicted. I said you know I think it was either Thursday or Friday that there was a nationwide strike.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah.

Thom Hartmann: And I said, I predicted that there would be no coverage of it in the corporate media in America because they don’t want Americans to get any ideas. And what the French were protesting is mind boggling. You lay it out, Doug.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah. What they’re protesting is a proposed change in the retirement age in France. Right now a French worker can retire at age 60 if they have earned enough work credits over a 40 year period, to qualify for that. But they qualify for that at age 60.

Thom Hartmann: Wow. And by the way that’s a retirement that is not you know social security dog food money. This is a retirement that you can actually live on plus full free healthcare benefits till the day you die.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah, that’s absolutely right. It’s much more substantial than the US social security benefits for example. But the right wing government of Sarkozy is pushing this, the French senate is going to take it up on October 5th and they are going to also push for a change in what’s called the full retirement benefits age from 65 to 67. What that means is if you have not earned enough credits over 40 years, regardless of how many years you’ve worked, you qualify for the pension at age 65 in France. Well they’re trying to increase that now to age 67. and the workers aren’t going to have it because they know that that means that that’s two years more that they have to labor in order to earn their pension and they’ve already earned their pensions at age 60 in France. And so…

Thom Hartmann: Well and they also know that that’s going to be an incremental percentage, higher percentage of people in the labor force which is going to drive down the cost of labor which is Sarkozy’s whole idea. It’s going to drive down the cost of labor, it’s going to drive down wages. When you increase the labor pool, you drive down sages. And that’s why I think Sarkozy is nuts to do this because it’s going to backfire on him. When you drive down wages, you drive down tax collections.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah absolutely you do. And this is also part of a protest more generally in Europe against austerity measures that are being put in place across the European continent. French workers for example on October 2nd, same day as the One Nation march here in the US. They will once again hold massive national protests against this increase in the retirement age. Because the debate there in the French senate begins on October 5th. But all the unions in France also are joining this Pan European protest strike on September 29th against the economic austerity measures in general that are being imposed.

Thom Hartmann: Right. Another story that will get huge coverage on the BBC, huge coverage in the European media, huge coverage in the worldwide media, and probably will not even show up on the network news in the United States as literally millions, millions, millions of people come out on the streets and refuse to go to work or both. It’s just mind boggling.

Doug Cunningham: Right. Another example, just a little bit of self-promotion. Another example of why you need Workers Independent News or outlets like it in the United States that is focused on labor news.

Thom Hartmann: You’re absolutely right. You’re absolutely right and why we’re pleased to carry it on our web stream and many other venues at the bottom of every hour. We’re talking by the way with Doug Cunningham. He is the reporter and producer for Worker’s Independent News, LaborRadio.org is the website. You can also hear Worker’s Independent News there at LaborRadio.org. Doug we have just a minute left. The United Steel Workers are running up against the oil industry. Tell us about this.

Doug Cunningham: Yeah. Well there’s, they are concerned about safety in the oil refinery industry in the United States and they say that there’s a work to failed mentality with the equipment there. In other words, they don’t do proper maintenance, they extend the maintenance intervals. And they just wait until something breaks down to fix it. Well of course that increases danger to workers, it increases the danger to communities where these refineries are located. And the United Steel Workers have been for a long time now urging them to adopt safer practices and more reasonable maintenance intervals so that the equipment is actually maintained in a safe and efficient manner and doesn’t just wait until they break it to fix it.

Thom Hartmann: Which is kind of a variation on let’s not have another oil rig blow up on us?

Doug Cunningham: Yeah. That’s right. I mean oil refinery operations are distinct and separate from the oil rigs but the…

Thom Hartmann: Well let’s not have an oil refinery, BP’s Texas city one. 15 people died.

Doug Cunningham: That’s right. Exactly. And the same principles apply here. Safety first, production second. And the United Steel Workers is making the point, quite validly, that it’s the opposite in the oil industry. That’s it’s production first and safety be damned in that case.

Thom Hartmann: Yeah. Amazing. Doug Cunningham, with LaborRadio.org. Worker’s Independent News. Thank you Doug.

Doug Cunningham: Thanks, Thom.

Thom Hartmann: Great talking with you, great meeting you the other day. And keep up the great work.

Transcribed by Suzanne Roberts, Portland Psychology Clinic.