Links for April 12th

Posted byWaldo Jaquith 3 Comments on Links for April 12th
  • PolitiFact: Bob McDonnell says he cut $6 billion from Virginia’s budget
    Gov. McDonnell keeps claiming that he cut $6B from the budget "by cutting spending, not raising taxes." This is a lie. Spending reductions eliminated just $2.34B from the budget, only slightly more than the $1.9B of funding provided by federal stimulus dollars. (Apparently, federal stimulus money is "cutting spending.") The balance of the $6B is bookkeeping chicanery—mere slight of hand.
  • New York Times: The Prosecution Rests, but I Can’t
    John Thompson spent fourteen years on death row for a robbery and a murder, neither of which he committed. Prosecutors knew he hadn't done it—they covered up the ample evidence demonstrating his innocence. If a private investigator hadn't uncovered the conspiracy against him, he'd have been executed by now. In this op-ed, Thompson wonders what to make of a legal system where doing this to him and others is perfectly legal, as the Supreme Court ruled last month.
  • Los Angeles Times: Ikea—Workers’ complaints surround Ikea’s U.S. factory
    Ikea's Danville factory is becoming a national shame in Sweden. The story is par for the course for Virginia—the company is treating workers terribly, allegedly discriminating against black employees, paying employees terribly and providing lousy benefits. The employees have tried to unionize, but a) Ikea is preventing them from doing so—despite their corporate commitment to unions—and b) it's Virginia.

Published by Waldo Jaquith

Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Char­lottes­­ville, VA, USA. more »

3 replies on “Links for April 12th”

  1. “The employees have tried to unionize, but a) Ikea is preventing them from doing so—despite their corporate commitment to unions—and b) it’s Virginia.”

    I didn’t see any indication in that article of Ikea “preventing” employees from unionizing. Can you explain how they’re doing that?

    And, how is Virginia stopping them? I believe that under Virginia law, if employees desire to join or form a union, they may do so.

  2. Current and former plant employees said they resented the unpredictable work hours and high-pressure atmosphere. The plant assesses penalty points for violations of work rules; workers who accumulate nine of them can be fired.

    Organizing workers around mandatory overtime concerns, pay raises not honored, promotion opportunities denied will get you enough penalty points to be fired with cause. So will “organizing” on company time. Without bargaining rights, these Virginians have a Right to Be Unemployed. That is all.

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