What people Doris??? Working people???

[Debi]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902220345


<snip>

Rep. Doris Kelley, D-Wat-erloo, reported that members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers snickered at her while she attended a public forum on health care Saturday in Cedar Falls with several other Democrats.

"They laughed, they snickered, they clapped when other representatives or senators spoke," Kelley said. "I got the rough end of the deal."

Kimberlee Pieper, a lobbyist for the union, said she believes Kelley was mistaken.

Kelley said she won't change her vote despite the real or perceived social discomfort. Citizens are e-mailing en masse to thank her for her vote but many of her Democratic peers have been distant, she said.

"There appears to be disappointment in me," Kelley said. "There appears to be a belief that I should follow the party line but I'm there to represent the people, not the party line."

<snip>

[rurallib]

1. Well I just got my copy of the Kaufmann newsletter and here is his explanation

He doesn't mention Kelly by name but lumps her with other - what, iowa blue dogs?
=======================================================================================
The Prevailing Wage bill garnered a lot of attention this past weekend. For perhaps the first time in Iowa history, voting was extended for three days. As I write this column, I am ready to take my turn in the Chamber as legislators from both parties remained there 24/7 until the Speaker of House declares the official vote.
After a change of heart by one legislator, a total of 6 Democrats joined with Republicans for a probable defeat of this bill. There has been intense pressure directed at some of my colleagues. Having cast votes against my official party stand and powerful interest groups myself, I understand this pressure.
The Prevailing Wage bill (HF 333) sets a wage and benefits standard that a contractor must pay their employees. This standard is based on a survey of the area and is calculated by the Labor Department. This trumps a collective bargaining agreement if the two are in conflict. Only publicly financed projects are affected. The law would begin on July 1, 2009 except in the flood devastated areas of Linn and Johnson where it would be implemented immediately.

The immediate implementation in flood-devastated areas is especially offensive to me. The 10-12 % increase in rebuilding costs would reduce the amount of projects the disaster dollars could fund.
The only groups registered officially for the bill was an array of labor unions. They argue that it ensures a fair wage, skilled labor, and would prevent out-of-state firms from capturing bids on local projects. I appreciate the sincerity of their position, but as a legislator representing small towns and contractors, I still can’t support this bill.
If there is a problem with out-of-state firms, then we should give preference to Iowa-based companies. If there are quality issues, there are ways to address this, but to imply that one has to be a member of an organization and be paid a wage dictated by the state in order to be skilled or capable of quality work is an unfair “slap” at thousands of small contractors and laborers in Iowa.

Small business owners across the state flooded us with warnings that this increase in costs would edge them out of competition leaving bids open to larger firms who can afford the significant increase in labor costs. This is why the six Democrats who voted “no” mostly represent rural and small town Districts like our District
===================================================================================================================================

I only post this to see the claims from the other side. Knowing Kaufmann I would believe nothing he says. I do know that immediately following the flood rather than hire local workers to clean folks were brought up from Texas and other places and paid minimum wage.
I guess I will never understand why business refuses to pay a living wage.
And, BTW, I can't think of a time when Kaufmann stood against his party when they needed him.
And isn't Kelly from Waterloo? How rural is that?

[Debi]

2. Bailey and Marek were the surprises, I think.

Although Baily (I think) started against it he was going to vote for it until a measure he supported failed (Radio Iowa has a good play-by-play on this).

No, Kelley is not in rural Iowa - she is in the City of Waterloo. The rural areas in Black Hawk County are represented by my Rep. Bob Kressig and Andrew Wenthe - two gentlemen who voted for a livable wage for working Iowans. I don't know what 'small contractors' live in Kelley's district (maybe she means Rick Young of Young Plumbing & Heating - you know, the owners of Waterloo's Young Arena....:eyes:)

[CornField]

3. No doubt it was those people

At that vote early rally who didn't raise their hands when Kelley asked if they were going to vote on election day. :eyes:

[Debi]

4. OMG....I was THERE!!!

:rofl:





on edit:

I was there for the right reasons.....:spray:

[47of74]

5. Awwwwww....poor baby....

Awwwwwwwww. So the big, mean, nasty union members were mean to her for her voting against a living wage. Hopefully someone will run against this person next year in the primary.

[rurallib]

6. Open Letter to Larry Marek from Johnson County Dems

An Open Letter to Representatived Larry Marek Regarding Prevailing Wage


Dear Representative Marek,


As a member of the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee and as the President of the local AFL-CIO organization that represents workers in Johnson & Washington Counties, I am extremely disappointed with your recent vote on prevailing wage. I realize that you are a new Democrat in a seat long held by the opposition and that there was a lot of pressure from various groups to vote this down. Regardless, a No vote was the wrong vote, in my opinion.

A Prevailing Wage will not raise costs by 15 to 20%. I’ve been at many bid “lettings” where they open up bids for specific projects. I’ve NEVER seen a 15% spread between bids. Projects at the UI & the UIH&C are generally won or lost by less than 3%; sometimes by less than 1%. Sometimes the union is low sometimes the non-union is low bidder. It’s true union workers make about 15 to 20% more than the non-union in wages and benefits. So where’s the money going, if the bids are so close? Is it because the pace and quality of the work in the non-union make it take 15% longer to get the job done OR is it going into the boss’s pockets. Neither seems to be a good public policy, to me. Why line one guy’s pockets at the expense of all the workers OR be spending tax money on low quality work.

I believe that Senator Gronstal is correct when he says that the last 3 decades of Iowa economic policies supported by the Republicans have done nothing more than make us a low wage state with our Postville’s and Atalissa’s. The only state that touches us that doesn’t have a prevailing wage is S. Dakota, another low wage state. We need a new economic strategy and a Prevailing Wage is a tactic in an overall strategy to make Iowa a high wage state.

In counties like Washington and even Johnson, the Prevailing Wage would NOT be the union wage for most crafts. Contractors would be required to fill out wage surveys like they do for the fed’s. The surveys look at man-hours and wages; multiply one by the other, add them all up and then figure out the average. The Prevailing Wage is ONLY the union wage when over 50% of the man-hours performed in the County for a particular craft are union. Having work in the county pay the “average wage” gets public tax money out of the game of rewarding the lowest wage contractors and all the problems that come with people living on the edge, the working poor.

Union construction workers get pensions and full family insurance as opposed to the non-union where only individual employee insurance is a benefit (or not) and possibly 401k’s that have lost a third of their value. I am a retired union carpenter getting a pension at age 60. This is something that would be impossible in the non-union world. And while my 403B has lost a third of it’s value, my pension remains unchanged.

I will be in Des Moines for meetings with the Iowa Federation of Labor, this week. I look forward to discussing this matter with you, face to face, while I’m on Capitol Hill.

Respectfully,
Patrick Hughes, President

Iowa City Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO (representing the workers of Johnson and Washington Counties)
and member of the Johnson County Democrats Central Committee
=====================================================================================================

[Debi]

7. Great letter

Unfortunately it will probably be ignored b/c working Iowans didn't make as many phone calls as the lobbyists for IAB and the Chambers of Commers (or whoever :eyes:)