An Injury to One is an Injury to All!VOL. 119

NO. 3JULY 25, 2012WEDNESDAY

(ISSN 0023-6667)

UAW Local 241 members Cody Fredenburg, Van Hey, andTy Johnson expected to be back to work this week, but theDuluth Automobile Dealers Association brought the samedemands to the mediated July 13 contract negotiations thatforced their strike June 15 .

IUOE #49 Political Director Jason George

No deal yet for UAW, dealersA mediated contract negotiation’s meeting July 13 between

United Auto Workers Local 241 and the Duluth AutomobileDealers Association (DADA) did not resolve their differences.

Union members continue to picket Kolar (Toyota/Hyundai/Scion and Chevrolet/Buick/GMC), Krenzen Honda/Nissan/Lincoln, and Duluth Chrysler/Doge/Jeep/Ram facilities duringhours that service facilities would be open Monday throughSaturday.

“We couldn’t come together on a decent proposal,” saidUAW 241 president Del Soiney, a mechanic at Duluth Chrysler.“Our voters voted on it July 14 and rejected it two to one.”

Soiney said dealers did include some language that the unionhas been trying to get back into their contract.

“But they made the language so obscure it could be interpret-ed any way you wanted to read it,” Soiney said.

No negotiations have been scheduled.“We let the mediator know we’ll meet any time,” Soiney said.

“The dealers are saying we won’t talk, but that’s not true.”UAW members had rejected DADA’s final offer in May on a

38 to 3 vote for the contract that expired April 31. Dealers want to pass 100% of any health care increases on to

the workers, and want to speed up repair times for technicians.The union has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges with the

NLRB over fraudulent docu-ments submitted by DADAinto the negotiations, as part ofthe failure to bargain in goodfaith.

If you can help the UAWwith picket duty contact JayJakubek at 393-0182.

(See a photo on page 7 anda story on page 8 about strikingUAW 241 members who volun-teered to help a deployedVeteran’s family with floodrelief problems this week.)

Republicans shoot down another job’s bill

Operating Engineers #49 endorse Cravaack

United States and stop reward-ing companies for shippingjobs overseas,” said MinnesotaSenator Al Franken, one of sixcosponsors. “I’ve heard frompeople all over Minnesota whosupport this bill because theirfamilies have been hurt whenjobs were shipped overseas.Today we had the opportunityto end a tax break that supportsthe outsourcing of jobs bypassing legislation to bringjobs back home and keep themhere—something we desper-ately need to do to get oureconomy back on track. Peoplein Minnesota and across thecountry are looking for leader-ship that creates jobs and I amincredibly disappointed thatthis bill was blocked.” He saidthe bill would have encourageda trend that in the last few yearshas seen manufacturers likeFord and Caterpillar bring jobsback to the United States fromJapan, Mexico, and China.

“This is about making surewe see the words ‘Made inAmerica’ again,” said Sen.Barbara Boxer (D-Cal).

trade policies continue toreward multi-national compa-nies who offshore jobs,” feder-ation Legislative Director BillSamuel wrote senators. “Everyother major industrial countryhas a strategic plan to createand keep good jobs. It’s timefor the U.S. to implement a realplan…to put our people back towork and end the tax breaksand flawed policies thatencourage rampant off-shoring.”

“In the last decade, compa-nies shipped 2.4 million jobsoverseas,” Stabenow said. “Toadd insult to injury, Americantaxpayers were asked to helpfoot the bill...Just imagine ifyou are one of those workers inMichigan or Virginia or Ohioor Wisconsin or anywhere whomaybe was forced to train youroverseas replacement beforeyou were laid off…an Ameri-can worker is asked to subsi-dize the moving expenses andcosts so their own job can beshipped overseas.”

“We need our tax code toencourage job creation in the

GOP: It’s okay togive tax breaks for

shifting jobs overseasbut not for bringing

them back homeWASHINGTON (PAI)--

Once again, a planned SenateRepublican filibuster broughtdown a jobs bill, the Bring TheJobs Home Act. The 56-42 voteon July 19 to open debate, andthen later vote on the measure,was not enough to cross the 60-vote threshold lawmakersneeded to halt the scheduledRepublican talkathon againstit. So the bill died.

The bill would have bannedfirms from deducting fromtheir taxes the expenses ofshifting U.S. jobs overseas,while giving firms that bringoutsourced jobs back here anadditional 20% tax credit fordoing so.

The AFL-CIO pushed Sen.Debbie Stabenow’s (D-Mich)bill and asked members to calland e-mail senators for it.

“Too many of our tax and

~This release of July 12 isfrom Operating EngineersLocal 49’s website, www.local49.org/news/ show/261

Earlier this week membersof the International Union ofOperating Engineers Local 49gathered in Duluth to screencandidates for Congress inMinnesota’s 8th CongressionalDistrict. This screening wasopen to all Local 49 membersthat lived in the 8th District,and was widely advertised onour website and distributed viaemail. Members in attendancerepresented all corners of the8th District.

After hearing from all 3candidates running in theDemocratic Primary, andCongressman Cravaack, wehad what turned out to be avery difficult conversationabout who we should standwith in this election. The con-versation centered around jobs,our union, and the ability of ourmembers to earn a good living.These are the core issues thatbind us together as a group, andwe decided that this shoulddrive our endorsement.

The members held a secretballot vote the night of screen-ing, and the strong majorityvoted to endorse CongressmanChip Cravaack.

Ultimately the membershipdecided we needed to take ourpartisan hats off, keep politicalparty affiliation out of it, andmake an evidence-based deci-

sion.When we took a look at

Congressman Cravaack’s termin office, it became clear thathe has done a good job of stay-ing away from partisanWashington politics, and reallyfocusing on bread and butterissues that are important toconstruction workers in his dis-trict. He is not afraid to standup to his party when he dis-agrees with their direction, andhis votes reflect that.

There have been 7 attemptsin this Congress to repeal criti-cal local contractor and workerprotections in the Davis-Baconact. All 7 times CongressmanCravaack stood with localworkers and local contractorsand voted against his party line.Just recently, there have beenseveral attempts to eliminate toability of the government touse Project Labor Agreementson federal projects which savethe taxpayers money andensure quality construction.Congressman Cravaack votedagainst the party line, and withthe local construction workersand contractors that benefitfrom Project Labor Agree-ments.

Congressman Cravaack hasan outstanding record on con-struction job creation - that isthe 49ers number one issue.Congressman Cravaack strong-ly supports the KeystonePipeline, mining projects likePolymet, the recently passed

St. Croix River Bridge, dredg-ing and maintaining the port ofDuluth, and most importantlythe recently signed into lawFederal Infrastructure Bill.Thousands of construction jobsin Minnesota are or were atstake with these projects andCongressman Cravaack foughthard for those jobs.

“The members of Local 49have spoken, and we arepleased to endorse Congress-man Cravaack in the 8thDistrict,” said Jason George,IUOE 49 Political Director.“Local 49 is always ready towork with candidates of anyparty that are willing to supportour jobs and our union.Congressman Cravaack hasfought hard for constructionworkers in the 8th district, andwe are going to stand with himthis November.”(See related content pages 2, 3.)

Central Body to discuss 8CD House race When Duluth AFL-CIO

Central Labor Body presidentDan O’Neill told delegates attheir July 12 meeting thatOperating Engineers Local 49had endorsed RepublicanCongressman Chip Cravaackfor re-election it caused quitean incredulous stir and led tomuch discussion.

Labor has been all over themap in endorsing the threeDemocrats who will competein the August 14 PrimaryElection for the right to faceCravaack Nov. 6. JeffAnderson, Tarryl Clark, andRick Nolan all have receivedendorsements from laborunions and individual laborleaders. That wide ranging sup-port was enough to keep theAFL-CIO from consideringgetting involved in the raceuntil after a Democrat came outof the primary.

Labor leader on stadium boardMinneapolis Regional Labor Federation president Bill

McCarthy is one of five appointed members of the MinnesotaSports Facilities Authority that will guide development of thenew Minnesota Vikings football stadium. He was one of twomembers appointed by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and waselected as the Authority’s vice chair.

“Building the new Vikings football stadium will create thou-sands of construction jobs and help support thousands more jobson an on-going basis,” McCarthy said. “As a member of the newSports Facilities Authority, I will be an advocate for the interestsof Minneapolis and for workers as the Authority shapes thedevelopment of the new ‘People’s Stadium.’ We’re entrusted togive Minnesota a new world-class sports facility we all can takepride in, a facility we as the Authority will be working to deliv-er on-time and on-budget.”

Major announcement onCrystal Sugar lockout today

AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka will be in St. Paul,today with members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco, &Grain Millers Union (BCTGM) who have been locked out oftheir jobs at American Crystal Sugar. There will be “a majornational announcement regarding the lockout on behalf of the 12million member labor federation” as stated in a Tuesday pressrelease.

Since August 1, 1300 workers in Minnesota, North Dakota,and Iowa have been locked out of their jobs at American CrystalSugar Company at processing plants in East Grand Forks,Crookston, and Moorhead, Minn., Hillsboro and Drayton, N.D.,and packaging and transportation sites in Chaska, Minn. andMason City, Iowa. Workers at those facilities are represented byfive different BCTGM local unions.

Just over a week ago BCTGM Local 369G and the SouthernMinnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative came to an agreement on anew five-year contract that union members overwhelmingly rat-ified. They were not one of the five locked out American CrystalSugar-affiliated unions.

Here is part of what leaders of locked-out Crystal Sugarworkers said about that agreement:

We note that the union’s lead negotiator on the agreementwas BCTGM Vice-President Steve Bertelli, who is also our leadnegotiator in contract talks with American Crystal Sugar. Weapplaud Steve and Southern Minnesota’s negotiators for gettingto “YES,” before the former contract’s expiration date and craft-ing an agreement that includes mutual gains for both manage-ment and labor.

That is the way negotiations are supposed to work.......This is no time to gamble on whether a new crowd of inex-

perienced “replacement workers” can make saleable productsand profits any better than the last bunch. Let’s get back to thetable and get to YES before the sugar beets start rolling into thefactories.

AFL-CIO has Meet Mitt siteThe AFL-CIO launched a new website on presumed

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on July 18--http://www.aflcio.org/meetromney (Meet Mr. 1%).

The site responds to what labor leaders have heard at hun-dreds of events across the country calling for Washington toBring Jobs Home: working people want a leader focused on cre-ating jobs for everyone, not just lining his or her pockets. MeetMr. 1% offers facts about how Romney does, or doesn’t, matchup to people’s aspirations.

The website offers details about how Massachusetts sufferedduring Romney’s single term as Governor there as well as infor-mation on what is currently known about his still mysteriousrecord at Bain Capital. It also illustrates the significant costs toworking people—and vast benefits to the 1%-- of the Romneyeconomic agenda.

Your Labor Day Picnic is inneed of donations, volunteers

Financial donations to the Duluth AFL-CIO Central LaborBody’s Labor Day Picnic started out good, but have nearlydried up recently. It takes nearly $10,000 to pull the event offeach year, but donations are just over $5,000 with only about amonth to go. The picnic is financed solely through donations soit’s time for unions and individuals who believe in it to pony upfor Duluth Labor’s 121st Labor Day Picnic.

“We’re always hunting for financial donations and volun-teers,” said Picnic Co-Chair Terri Newman. “This year seems tobe worse than most.” Donations can be made out to DuluthLabor Day Picnic, and mailed to same, Room 110, 2002London Road, Duluth, MN 55812.

Community Service Program Liaison Lynette Swanbergsaid volunteers are also desperately needed to work the chil-dren’s area or that may have to be shut down this year.

“Efforts to make the picnic more family friendly have reallyimproved over recent years but they’re in jeopardy now becauseof a lack of volunteers,” Swanberg said.

Newman said the core group of picnic volunteers that workevery Labor Day, need help.

“Those folks need other volunteers to step up just so theycan even get a break during the day,” said Newman. “Plus themore volunteers we have, the faster we can keep all the linesmoving and everyone is happier.”

There will be a Labor Day Picnic Committee meeting onThursday, August 9 at 6:00 p.m. in Wellstone Hall of the DuluthLabor Temple prior to the Central Body meeting.

“We look forward to seeing new faces showing up and thatmeeting will be getting us close to finalizing what we can andcannot do this year,” Newman said. “Everybody is welcome.”

But the Operating Engi-neers endorsing RepublicanCravaack was too much forDuluth Central Body delegatesJuly 12. O’Neill’s announce-ment started a discussion thatcould have gone on all night.

O’Neill suggested that itwould only be fair to all affili-ated unions if there was someadvance notice that such a dis-cussion was going to takeplace. Delegates agreed andvoted to address the race beforethe primary election and willdo that at their Thursday,August 9 meeting, 7:00 p.m.,Wellstone Hall, Duluth LaborTemple, 2002 London Road.

The Central Body could goas far as to make a recommen-dation for endorsement in theU.S. House of Representative’s8th Congressional District atthat meeting. But it takes atwo-thirds vote of delegates

present to make an endorse-ment and for any candidate tomeet that number is unlikely.

Also clouding the picture isthe fact that the Central Bodymeeting will be held just fivedays before voting starts in theprimary.

One thing is for certain, theimpromptu 8CD discussion ofJuly 12, will bring out a lotmore delegates August 9 tomake a pitch for their candi-dates.

“We always urge our affili-ates to make sure their CentralBody delegates show up forour meetings,” said O’Neill.“Well, we’re finding out thattea party unionists are attend-ing their meetings. It’s a fullblown strategy on their part sowe all better start showing up.”

PAGE 2 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 10Retirees’ LuncheonTuesday, Aug. 7, 1:00 p.m.

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It’s late July and we’re real-ly dry. Again. It’s hard tobelieve after our century flooda month ago. These should bethe idyllic days of summer welong for in our long winters butit seems the weather isn’t funanymore. Have any ideas why?

As a kid I remember feelingbad when August’s dog dayswould come around and jump-ing into Twin Ponds wasn’tsuch a good idea anymore. Bythen we usually had had a greatsummer. Getting wet in a thun-derstorm was fun. Don’t everremember oppressive heat.

We just came through awinter without snow until thevery end. Before the snow fellwe were facing grassfire dan-gers months before we shouldhave and we got some.

The snow came almost vio-lently late but we relished it.Then the drought hit us hardand we feared it. Then theflood destroyed many people’sdreams. Now we see people

mowing their lawns in cloudsof dust.

We’re watering our cutworm infested gardens morethan ever at home. Makes a guynervous with a 38 foot deepwell. The lawn never has got-ten water. It’ll have to surviveon its own so it has to wave atme to get mowed. The mowerdeck is set at its highest level orone notch down. It’s really apasture so I’ve tried to makeCreeping Charlie a friendbecause I’m not going to dowhat would need to be done toeradicate him or the other wildflowers, yes, even dandelions.

Weather’s making me nerv-ous. Never did before. I’d goout running in a snowstorm onthe deserted roads, laughing asI fell. Snow storms seem ratherbenign compared to what weare getting in what were oncethe idyllic summer months of“the air conditioned city.”

In a March 7 Ditch I usedthe phrase “mud is better thandust.” Now some folks are stilldigging out of the mud, othersare worried about the dust. Theworld is going to the extremesit seems. Where is that middleground of Aristotle’s GoldenMean? I’d like to see it in theweather and in how we treateach other. It’s become so“Easy To Be Hard” as the songfrom Hair stated in 1979.

In our politics, work, andrecreating it’s amazing howquickly we turn on each othernow. We don’t even abide a dif-ference of opinion and weseem to be getting worse.

Video games and moviesare fantastically violent. Wedon’t think we need to live withour feet on the ground. We fly

through the air blowing peopleup, destroying everything thatstands in our way. Then we gosee if there’s anything to eat inthe ’frig.

And joining the military isone of the best options for highschool grads. And they get sentto war zones and come homemore scarred than any genera-tion of Veterans in our history.And they struggle with reality.And they struggle with realityif they’ve not gone to war. Andthey struggle with reality ifthey’re incredibly bright in thetough field of science inAurora, Colorado.

We miss the idyllic days ofsummer without a care in theworld other than school is start-ing again so soon with falldropping in upon us.

Where does the summer gowhen it dries up and getswashed in the lake?

LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012 PAGE 3

LABOR WORLD(ISSN#0023-6667) is published

semi-monthly except one issue inDecember (23 issues).

The known office of publication isLabor World, 2002 London Road,Room 110, Duluth, MN 55812. Periodicals postage is paid at

Duluth MN 55806. POSTMASTER:

Send address changes to: Labor World, 2002 London Rd.,Room 110, Duluth, MN 55812

(218) 728-4469 FAX: (218) 724-1413

laborworld@qwestoffice.netwww.laborworld.org

~ ESTABLISHED 1896 ~Owned by Unions affiliated with the

Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor BodySubscriptions: $22 Annually

Larry Sillanpa, Editor/ManagerDeborah Skoglund, Bookkeeper

Board of DirectorsPres./Treas. Mikael Sundin,Painters & Allied Trades 106;V.P. Paul Iversen, BMWED1710; Sec. Jayme McKenna,AFSCME 66; Al LaFrenier,Workers’ United Midwest Bd;Mike Kuitu, Operating Engineers 49; Dan O’Neill,Plumbers & Steamfitters 11;Steve Risacher, Carpenters361; Dan Leslie, IBEW 31;Stacy Spexet, USW 9460

6 7

You can’t endorse Cravaackbased on the evidence

Editor:On July 13 I was returning from Two Harbors after coffee

with friends. Some days I listen to hate radio – WDSM – and onthat Friday the 13th, I did. Some woman from the Republicanparty headquarters called in and she was ecstatic aboutOperating Engineers Local 49 having endorsed Chip Cravaack.The more she and hate radio host Brad Bennett railed about the“enlightened” membership of the Operating Engineers, the moreirate I became.

I went straight down to the Labor Center and the OperatingEngineers office to ask how that endorsement came about. Thebusiness rep wasn’t in so I left a message with the secretary tohave him call. After two more messages and one to the BusinessManager in the Twin Cities, still no return calls.

The next day, a press release in the local daily paper fromLocal 49 said “ultimately the membership decided we needed totake our partisan hats off, keep political party affiliation out of it,and make an evidence based decision.” Really? “An evidencebased decision” endorsing Cravaack?

The press release stated that Local 49 represents 13,000members, but I found out from a source (who shall be unnamed)that 16 members attended that meeting, that the leadership ofLocal 49 took over the meeting and managed to convince 8 oth-ers to endorse Cravaack; 10 for and 6 opposed. Yet their pressrelease says they represent 13,000 members. I wanted to ask theleadership of Local 49 to respond to this information but theyhaven’t returned my calls.

The Business Manager of Operating Engineers Local 139 inWisconsin wrote a letter to all their members asking them to votefor Republican Scott Walker in the last governor’s election.Walker won and we have all witnessed his “Labor agenda” inWisconsin. In Minnesota, Governor Dayton won by only 8,000votes. Had Emmer won, voter ID, Right To Work and freeload,and other legislation against public workers, public education,and state prevailing wage laws would be our new history in thisstate.

In the last national election of 2010, Local 49 endorsedCongressman Jim Oberstar. Many Operating Engineers wereemployed on state and federal projects secured by Oberstar.Cravaack ran a campaign philosophy 180 degrees opposite toOberstar’s, a genuine 100% T-bag philosophy – cut, cut, cut fed-eral spending and cut, cut, cut all taxes. Now, it seems, the lead-ership of Local 49 has bought into that philosophy.

Craig Olson, President of the Duluth Building &Construction Trades Council told me that he received a call froma Chip Gardner (who had been an aide to Congressman Oberstarin Washington.) who is now working for the National Building& Construction Trades in Washington DC. Gardner asked Craigto call Congressman Cravaack and thank him for some vote.Craig said Gardner also called Iron Range Building TradesPresident John Grahek and asked the same. Both presidentsasked Gardner (nicely) if he was nuts and to go to hell.

Think what a Republican T-bag House and Senate with a vul-ture capitalist in the White House would mean for working peo-ple in this country. I hope between now and No. 7th, that youtell everyone who asks you to vote for Cravaack, Romney andthe rest of the T-bag party – and Cravaack himself If you havethe opportunity – the same thing Olson and Grahek told theNational Building Trades– “Go To Hell,” but nicely.

George A. SundstromA Retired Union Sheet Metal Worker

“Quote, Unquote”"The trouble is, supporters of the Tea Party are –

whether they’re aware of it or not – snorting Koch."~Jesse Ventura, Reform Party Governor of Minnesota 1999-

2003, in his new book, “DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: NoMore Gangs in Government” on how right wing billionairesCharles & David Koch took over the tea party agenda with theirmoney. Give Ventura credit for hating our two party system.

This Day In Historywww.workdayminnesota.org

July 23, 1846 - Protestingslavery and the U.S. involve-ment in the Mexican War,Henry David Thoreau refusedto pay his $1 poll tax andwas put in jail by theConcord, Massachusetts,town constable. The experi-ence moved him to writeCivil Disobedience.July 25, 1890 - New Yorkgarment workers won theright to unionize after a 7-month strike. They securedagreements for a closed shopand the firing of all scabs. July 26, 1894 - PresidentGrover Cleveland appointeda United States StrikeCommittee to inquire intothe causes of the Pullmanstrike and the subsequentwalkout by the AmericanRailway Union. Four monthslater, the commission issuedits report, absolving the strik-ers and blaming Pullman andthe railroads for the conflict.

~NOTICE~2012 Labor World Issues Aug. 8, 29 (Labor Day issue); Sept. 12, 26; Oct. 10 31; Nov. 14, 28; Dec. 19.

The non-profit Labor World, Inc. is theofficial publication of the Duluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body. It is an educa-tional, advocacy newspaper for workersand unions. The views and opinions sub-mitted and expressed in the Labor Worlddo not necessarily reflect the views of thepaper, its Board of Directors or staff, theDuluth AFL-CIO Central Labor Body, itsaffiliated unions, their officers, or staff.

Public sector job cuts equal 2.3M lost jobs(PAI)--Budget-slashing and

job-cutting by state and localgovernments since the start ofthe Great Recession havedirectly cost 627,000 workerstheir jobs and directly and indi-rectly cost the economy 2.3million jobs, the EconomicPolicy Institute calculates. Hadthose jobs all been saved orrestored to the U.S. since therecession, which is also knownas the Bush Crash, ended, theU.S. jobless rate would be aslow as 6.7%, not its present8.2%, the think tank adds.

EPI released its data theweek before several formerpolitical and business leaders,guided by former New YorkLieut. Gov. Richard Ravitch,said the fiscal travails of six bigstates – including New York,California and Illinois –demand more sharp cuts instate spending, particularly onstate and local workers’ payand pensions.

EPI says the multipliereffects of the state and local jobcuts during the current recov-ery – cuts that did not occurduring or after prior slumps --“represent a serious drag thatwas not weighing on earlierrecoveries.”

EPI analysts Heidi Shier-holz and Josh Bivens calculat-ed that in addition to the actualworkers whom state and localgovernments fired, they alsodid not hire 505,000 more

AFT launches campaignagainst high stakes testingDETROIT (PAI)--The American Federation of Teachers will

launch an all-out drive against school systems’ overdependenceon high-stakes testing as a measure of student progress, kickingoff the campaign at the union’s convention in Detroit in July.

The anti-testing drive comes after AFT’s on-line petitionagainst the practice gained more than 10,000 signatures, manyfrom parents, in just two weeks in July.

“Parents and teachers agree it’s time to put teaching ahead oftesting so we can provide all children the rich, meaningful pub-lic education they deserve,” AFT President Randi Weingartensaid. “The balance is way off -- and as a result, test-driven edu-cation policies continue to force educators to sacrifice the timethey need to help students learn to critically analyze content and,instead, focus on teaching to the test. “We are depriving our chil-dren of the learning experiences they need in order to succeed ina 21st -century knowledge economy,” she added.

The 1.5-million-member union’s Executive Councilapproved the campaign to kill “teach to the test” in May. Boththe AFT and the 3-million-member National EducationAssociation (NEA), the nation’s other teachers union, stronglyoppose over-reliance on testing as the sole measure of studentprogress – and school quality – under the 2001 No Child LeftBehind (NCLB) law.

That law, pushed through Congress with Democratic cooper-ation by former GOP President George W. Bush, set enormous-ly high standards for test passage rates for public schools – with-out the money to help teachers help kids achieve those results.

Unions maintain that NCLB was deliberately designed byBush and other Right Wingers to have public schools fail, so thattaxpayer dollars could be yanked from them – and their teachers-- and given to private, usually religious, schools.

This year Minnesota was one of a number of states grantedwaivers by the U.S. Department of Education that frees themfrom NCLB, which dictated student results in math and readingtests that educators say are unattainable. “Under (NCLB) teach-ers have been forced to teach to tests, which do not accuratelymeasure either individual student or school progress,” saidMinnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, who started his work life teach-ing in poor areas of New York City. “Students spend too manyhours preparing for, practicing and taking the tests.”

“I'm proud my 7th-graders read over 1,200 books this pastschool year,” Saranac Lake, N.Y. teacher Don Carlisto said. “Weare sacrificing time that could be spent on learning and promot-ing reading to focus on tests that too often are unreliable indica-tors of student performance, of poor quality and full of errors.”

At its convention, in early July in D.C., the NEA also opposedthe high-stakes tests. It wants administrators, politicians and testdevelopers to improve “public school accountability systems...based on fair testing standards promulgated by experts.” Statesand school districts, NEA adds, should “develop systems” toevaluate schools and students “based on multiple forms of evi-dence of student learning that do not require extensive standard-ized testing (and) are used to support all students and improveschools, and not for purposes for which they have not been val-idated.”

workers since the 2009 end ofthe slump, just to keep up withpopulation growth.

The fired and un-hired stateand local workers also meantreduced state and local demandfor private-sector goods andservices, as well as reducedconsumer demand, they point-ed out. That costs jobs, too.

“Firefighters need trucksand hoses, police officers needcars and radios, and teachersneed books and desks,” Bivensand Shierholz said. “Whenpublic-sector jobs are lost, itstands to reason that the inputsinto these jobs will fall as well,and indeed research shows thatfor every public-sector job lost,roughly 0.43 supplier jobs arelost.”

Not only that, but every dol-lar cut in public workers’ payand supplies takes another 24cents out of worker buyingpower in the private economy,they calculated.

“Teachers and firefightersstop going to restaurants andbuying cars if they’re laid off,which reduces demand forwaitstaff and autoworkers andso on. Add the influencestogether -- supplier jobs andjobs supported by this multipli-er impact -- and roughly 0.67private sector jobs are lost forevery public sector job cut.”

That’s two private sectorjobs lost for every three publicworkers cut. The lost public

jobs are added to the un-hirepublic workers, the lost privatejobs and another 425,000 pri-vate jobs lost because recipi-ents of state spending, such ason Medicaid or unemploymentinsurance, lack cash. Thegrand total job loss is 2.3 mil-lion.

But politicians are not pay-ing attention. Even Ravitchadmitted the federal govern-ment – as well as DemocraticPresident Barack Obama andpresumed GOP nominee MittRomney – are ignoring states’fiscal ills and their impact,though his solution, more cuts,was drastically different thanwhat EPI recommends.

And EPI points out publicsector job cuts are politicallymotivated, orchestrated by theRepublicans and dispropor-tionately hurting women andminorities.

“It’s obviously nuts tomaintain, as some do, that thegovernment doesn’t createjobs. It creates millions ofthem, and we very much needthem if we’re going to educatekids, drink water, put out fires,have public safety, etc..” addsformer White House advisorJared Bernstein, who was EPI’schief before joining the admin-istration. “But public sectorjobs also create private sectorjobs upstream and down-stream. It’s all connected,

PAGE 4 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

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Sartell fire and death spurs safety talksPine County deputies go IBTPine City, MN- On May 30th Pine County Deputies voted 16

to 6 to elect Teamsters Local 320 to become their exclusive bar-gaining representative. Thirty-five Pine County employees willbe covered under Teamster representation.

Incoming Teamsters Local 320 Secretary-Treasurer, BrianAides, spearheaded the organizing drive and is happy to wel-come the new edition to the International Brotherhood ofTeamsters.

“Our Union is pleased to have the Sheriff’s Deputies of PineCounty choose Teamsters”, says Aides, adding that, “these bravelaw enforcement officers will now be part of the powerfulMinnesota Teamsters Law Enforcement League (MNTLEL).”

MNTLEL is a fraternal, non-partisan division of TeamstersLocal 320. MNTLEL advises the Local on legislative, trainingand representational issues affecting law enforcement officers.MNTLEL provides a national legal defense fund and a criticalincident hotline for its law enforcement members. For moreinformation on MNTLEL visit www.teamsterslocal320.org/MNTLEL

Pine County Deputy, Chad Wiener, is one of the deputies whowas critical in pushing for the Teamster organization at his work-place.

“I had been a Teamsters Local 320 member at another depart-ment,” says Wiener. “In my experience Local 320 had alwaysbeen proficient and resourceful during negotiations withemployers.”

Deputy Wiener subscribes that the three major issues thatbrought Teamsters victory on May 30th were: Local 320’s nego-tiating experience, participation in MNTLEL, and the opportu-nity for deputies to opt into the Teamsters self-insured, healthplan.

“I had always been in favor of Pine County Deputies becom-ing Teamsters, but it wasn’t until Brian Aides came up to PineCity and gave us a presentation on negotiations, MNTLEL, andthe health plan that my co-workers and I overwhelminglyagreed,” Wiener said.

The Minnesota Teamsters Public and Law EnforcementEmployees' Union Local 320 is based in Minneapolis. Local 320serves the needs and shares the values of more than 11,000 state,county, and municipal employees in the state of Minnesota.

Tentative pact after 26 years(PAI)--After a probable world record for management stub-

bornness, the Dayton (Ohio) Newspaper Guild reached a tenta-tive agreement with the Cox Media Group for a contract cover-ing the workers at the Dayton Daily News. It only took 26 years.

President Lou Grieco, TNG-CWA Local 34157, announcedthe agreement July 19. He said the long struggle forced the local“to become a new type of union.” Mobilizing to stay strong ledthe local to increase its density among the paper’s workers in theopen shop. Now, a large majority are Guild members.

Rank-and-file solidarity and community outreach changedmanagement’s mind in the last two months leading to the pactafter members voted down last year’s offer 61-3.

Dayton managers thought they could outsource advertisingjobs to the Philippines. But when the local alerted advertisersabout that, it got community support for a potential boycott.

The union had been working under the old contract.

PITTSBURGH(PAI)--UntilMemorial Day, Jon Maus’claim to fame was as a memberof Steelworkers Local 274 anda loyal worker at the VersoPaper mill in Sartell, Minn.Now, he’s much more.

You see, Maus, 50, of NewAlbany, Minn., died in a 2-dayexplosion and fire on May 28-29 at the mill. He left a widowand four children. Four otherworkers were injured. All fivewere USW Local 274 members

Remembering Maus anddiscussing the blast put jobsafety and health atop the agen-da of the union’s Paperworkersbargaining conference in July.

“The investigation’s stillgoing on,” says local 274President Lyle Fleck. “Theythink it was the generators andthe air compressors” thatcaused the fatal fire.

Some 4,000 tightly woundhuge rolls of paper burned, andthe fire emitted toxins andother chemicals. News reportssaid it also put the future of thecentury-old mill, whichemploys 250 workers --- evenafter laying off 175 lastNovember -- in question, acommon occurrence in thepaper industry. Verso is Sar-tell’s second-largest employer.

“Safety has always beenpretty good at Sartell,” where ajoint USW-management com-

mittee keeps an eye on job con-ditions, Fleck says. But that’snot necessarily the case in theentire paper industry, the 500Paper Sector conference dele-gates noted. They represented100,000 workers, members ofthe old Paperworkers.

“Despite the fact that theindustry has invested millionsin programs that seem toreduce the number of injuriesreported, the overall rate offatalities and life-alteringinjuries appears to remainunchanged over decades,” saidUSW VP and sector presidentJon Geenen. “That is why wemust focus on strengtheningthese efforts by engagementand innovation at all levels inevery company.”

Though the union criticizedthe paper firms on safety, it

works with them in other areas,Geenen said. The industryappreciates that, he added.“I’m incredibly proud thatsince the last conference ourlocals have been very disci-plined in bargaining. We’redefinitely making progress increating a better workplace andindustry,” Geenen explained.

Besides health and safety,the paper bargaining confer-ence delegates also discussedfurther development of “a dis-ciplined collective bargainingagenda and policy,” increasingtheir sector’s activity in globalworker networks, increasingcouncil-based organizing tobring “free riders” into theunion, and “developing andstrengthening our voice in boththe political and legislative are-nas,” the union said.

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Building Trades unions are picketing the O’Reilly Auto Parts store being built on Hwy. 61in Two Harbors by a non-union contractor from Arkansas. One of the workers was a unionBoilermaker who left the job after the pickets went up July 16. “He said he had no ideaabout the pickets, shook my hand, and went home to Arkansas,” said Ironworkers 512Marketing Development/Organizer Norm Voorhees. “That makes your day on a picket.”

Local-led delegation searches for roots of violence, injustice in ColombiaBy Lyn Clark Pegg

and Amy PriceFebruary 7 was a typical hot

and steamy day in Buenaven-tura, the main port city ofColombia, infamous for itsdeadly drug-related violence.

We were in Colombia withWitness for Peace, a humanrights organization that travelsto Latin America and theCaribbean to document theimpact of U.S. policies andcorporate practices.

We met with the Crucadocommunity, Afro-Colombianswhose land is threatened by aFilipino company seeking toexpand the harbor. This mega-port expansion project, Agua-dulce, is intended to supportincreased imports and exportsunder a Free Trade Agreement(FTA) with the United States.

During an April summit inCartagena (overshadowed inAmerica by the Secret Service“sex scandal”), PresidentObama confirmed his supportfor the FTA, which will allowtransnational corporations toaccess Colombia’s vastreserves of oil, coal, and miner-als, at the expense of small pro-ducers and organized labor.

A portion of the land collec-tively owned by the Crucadocommunity has yet to bereturned to them, despite theirancestral rights to it underColombian law. In the early1990s, the constitution wasrevised to specifically includeancestral land rights for Afro-Colombian and indigenouspeople. But those lands arecoveted by companies pressur-ing the Colombian governmentto grant permits to extractresources and palm oil, fruit,timber, and sugar.

Campesinos, or peasants,who have inherited their landmay have difficulty provingthey own it if they don’t pos-sess the title. The Crucadocommunity recently requesteda halt to the Aguadulce projectuntil their land titling processcould be evaluated. The requestwas ignored.

According to the Consul-tancy for Human Rights, overfive million people throughoutColombia, more than 10 per-cent of the population, havebeen similarly displaced andmost have not been able toreturn to their homes.

The Colombian governmenthas been unable to providehousing, healthcare, education,and safety for the displaced,whose numbers now exceedthat of refugees in the Sudan.

Benefit for Witness for PeaceFiesta en la Playa is a party being planned for Lafayette

Square Community Center on Park Point to benefit Witness forPeace. It will be Wednesday, August 8 from 6:00 – 8:30 pm

Yessika Hoyos Morales and Juan Nicolás Escandón Henao,lawyers from Bogotá, Colombia will address the work of tradeunions affected by human rights violations, and efforts to bringpeace to Colombia. Music will be performed by LeonRohrbaugh and friends, with food and refreshments provided bylocal restaurants, and multicultural raffles adding to the party.

According to Justicia y Paz(Justice and Peace), a non-gov-ernmental organization, Agua-dulce utilizes puppet leadersand superficial meetings inwhich the community has noreal representation. By provid-ing jobs to some, the employedare pitted against the unem-ployed, dividing the communi-ty. Such tactics allow compa-nies to appear to be complyingwith Colombian law. If thesemeasures fail, the communitymay find itself under siege byillegally armed guerilla andparamilitary groups.

After leaving the Crucado,we took a white-knuckle boatride through the jungle to themuddy banks of the Nonamvillage on the Río Calima. Thisindigenous community recent-ly returned to their land after 11months of displacement.

Two years ago, the villageacross the river was massacredin a paramilitary operation. TheNonam people, fearing for theirlives, fled to Buenaventurawhere they found refuge in abuilding with one large room,on stilts over a wetland. Onehundred people lived there forabout a year in deplorable con-ditions. Overcrowding, malnu-trition, and improper access tohealthcare resulted in an out-break of tuberculosis andmeningitis, killing two infants.

Groups like the Crucadoand Nonam are caught in thecrossfire of a civil war that hasraged in Colombia since the1950s, when small farmers leda movement for land reform.Their efforts were unsuccessfuland some formed armed guer-rilla forces. In response,wealthy landowners formedtheir own armed groups, nowknown as paramilitaries.

The Colombian governmenthas focused on defeatingguerilla groups by driving themfrom urban areas into theAndean Mountains. Thoughnow officially “demobilized,”paramilitaries continue to ter-rorize the poor, assassinatelabor organizers, and protectthe economic interests of cor-porations.

In 2000, the US governmentimplemented Plan Colombia,an aid package now totalingover $7 billion, predominantlyto militarize the Colombiangovernment against the drugtrade. Already fighting overland and resources, drug traf-ficking has added to the vio-lence in recent decades, asarmed groups control the riversthat transport cocaine to the

Pacific coast. The coca plant, from which

cocaine is derived, is native tothe Andean region and not eas-ily eradicated. The US-led“War on Drugs” includes aerialfumigation of farmland andforests with glyphosate, aMonsanto herbicide.

Campesinos are the primaryvictims of this policy. Duringfumigation, crops and naturalfoliage are killed, but the cocaoften survives. Fish, animals,and people are afflicted withskin rashes and respiratoryproblems. Food and water iscontaminated.

Indigenous Colombianshave an ancestral right to thecoca leaves, which are usedmedicinally or to alleviatehunger. Most Latin Americangovernments, including Co-lombian President Juan Man-uel Santos, support legalizingcoca—a proposal opposed bythe US.

In response to fumigation,growers move further into theforest. Narco-traffickers some-times force farmers to growcoca or tempt them with des-perately needed cash.

Government programs thatpay farmers to replace theircoca plants with legal cropshave been tried only half-heart-edly and tend to fail. Rice,sugar, and bananas simplydon’t have the same marketvalue as cocaine.

In the mountains of south-west Colombia, we met withLa Ruta Pacífica de las Mu-jeres (The Women’s PeacefulPath), a collaboration of 350feminist organizations nation-wide that train women in peaceactivism and negotiations.

La Ruta offers workshopson domestic violence and sexu-al assault, teaching womenhow to protect themselves frompersonal and systemic vio-lence, such as forced prostitu-tion and rape within the armedgroups, and a lack of redress bylaw enforcement and thecourts.

As in all war zones, womenand children are disproportion-ately affected, not only by theviolence itself, but with men

displaced by combat, womenare forced to support their fam-ilies on typically lower wages.

Colombia has the highestincidence in the world of assas-sinating labor organizers,resulting in a loss of leadershipand a traumatized workforce.

Out of 143 countries sur-veyed in 2010 by theInternational Trade UnionConfederation, Colombiaaccounted for over half theunion activists killed—49 outof 90. This makes Colombiaone of the most dangerousplaces in the world to beinvolved in union activity.

The killings are carried outby paramilitaries at the behestof transnational companies. Inthe past ten years, DrummondMining, Coca-Cola, andChiquita have been foundguilty of contracting with themfor “security.” The killers arerarely prosecuted.

In 2011, the US StateDepartment drew up a LaborAction Plan to identify laborrights that needed to beimproved before implementingthe FTA—specifically, therights to organize, to contractdirectly with employers, and tocollectively bargain for fairwages and benefits.

Though 500 death threatshave been reported in the lastyear and seven union activistshave been assassinated justsince the beginning of 2012,the US determined that suffi-cient progress has been madeon the Labor Action Plan toproceed with the FTA.

Outside the capitol city ofBogotá, high in the plateausavanna, hundreds of green-houses dot the landscape. 60%of flowers imported to the U.S.are produced here. 70% of theemployees are women whowork as long as 24 continuoushours, especially during theValentine’s Day season.

They are hired under short-term contracts, fired for work-related illnesses or pregnancy,and forced to increase output inhot, unsafe conditions wherepesticides cause skin problems,respiratory issues, and cancer,according to La Corporación

Cactus, a labor rights organiza-tion established in 1995 by themayor of Bogotá to documentthe conditions in commercialgreenhouses.

According to theColombian government andtourism industry, cities aresafer, the economy is better,and tourists can safely enjoy abeautiful country with gener-ous people who are eager toshare their culture. And all thatis true—for some.

Colombian cities are rela-tively safe for the middle andupper classes and for tourists.But those living in rural areas,on the very land that economicinterests want to extract andexploit, are most at risk.

Due to Colombia’s ruggedterrain, some Afro-Colombianand indigenous groups havebeen almost invisible untilnow, when improved trans-portation and communicationhave escalated invasion of theirland. However, those sametechnological advances haveallowed them to form strongactivist coalitions and theirresistance is growing.

They have organizedMingas, an indigenous wordfor “coming together for a pur-pose,” in which tens of thou-sands have marched long dis-tances to Bogotá in protest ofthe violence and to demandrespect for their rights.

These are the human casual-ties of mono-crop agriculture,industrial mining, the War onDrugs, and land theft for eco-nomic gain. They aren’t goingto stop fighting; they have nochoice but to resist nonviolent-ly. As U.S. citizens, we werecompelled by their stories tosupport them in their strugglefor justice and to advocate forchanges in government policyand corporate practices.

Lyn Clark Pegg is a retiredDuluth educator and psycholo-gist, who has organized fiveWitness for Peace delegationsto Colombia since 2007. AmyPrice of Portland, Oregon hasvolunteered for immigrant andrefugee organizations and is amember of the Northwest FairTrade Coalition.

PAGE 6 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

Out of 143 countriessurveyed in 2010 bythe International

Trade Union Confed-eration, Colombiaaccounted for over

half the union activistskilled—49 out of 90.

Global boycott of Hyatt Hotels launched

The Twin Ports Region Long Term Flood Relief Fund hasbeen established to help those affected by the June floods andefforts are underway to raise $1 million by the end of the month.

These funds will help address the unmet needs of individualsand families affected by the flood and who reside in the GreaterDuluth area (Duluth, Hermantown, Proctor), Carlton County,Superior/Douglas County, Two Harbors Floodwood and Aitkinareas. As of Friday, July 20, total contributions were $315,533.

This fund will help people with unmet needs after all othermeans of support have been exhausted. For example, funds willnot become available until after FEMA has determined theirfinancial role in the disaster and affected households havereceived or been denied assistance available through their insur-ance company, or State or Federal resources.

A regional committee representing the affected areas will beformed to administer the funds. This group will establish unmetneeds which the fund can address and maximum amounts fordistribution based on available resources and general need.Voluntary agencies and local long-term recovery groups willidentify and prioritize those unmet needs eligible for assistance.Efforts to establish the committee and processes for distributionare currently underway.

United Way is serving as the fiscal host for the fund and is notretaining any portion of donations received. The staff andadministrative support is being provided in-kind by the UnitedWay, therefore, 100% of the contributions will go into the fund.Please note that for credit card donations, the contribution lessthe transaction fee charged by the credit card company will gointo the fund. Fees vary by type of card, but are most often inthe range of 2-5% per transaction.

Contributions can be made at www.2012floodrelief.org. Ifyou have questions or concerns you can call me at 218-726-4775or email commservices@unitedwayduluth.org.

On Monday a far-reachingglobal boycott of Hyatt hotelswas launched in response to thehotel company’s extensiveabuse of their workers and lowwages.

The AFL-CIO, NFL PlayersAssociation, UNITE HERE,National Organization forWomen, Pride at Work, manyother organizations, as well asworkers, students andrenowned musicians combined

forces to support the boycott,which will include a full weekof demonstrations in 20 cities.

Hyatt workers have takenbold steps to end mistreatment,speaking publicly about abus-es, going on strike, and nowjoining in a global boycott ofHyatt.

The global boycott marksthe largest escalation to date inan ongoing campaign for basicworkers rights. Hyatt has sin-

gled itself out as the worstemployer in the hotel industryby abusing its housekeepersand other hotel workers,replacing longtime employeeswith minimum wage tempo-rary workers, and imposingdangerous and health-threaten-ing workloads on those whoremain.

Here are reasons to BoycottHyatt:

1. Hyatt’s subcontracting isdestroying good jobs andexploiting immigrant workers.

2. Hyatt housekeepers suf-fer abuse and face dangerousworkloads

3. Hyatt has refused toremain neutral as non-unionhotel workers organize.

4. Hyatt turned heat lampson striking workers during abrutal heat wave.

For more about the boycottand Hyatt abuses visitwww.HyattHurts.org., Twitter@hyatthurtsus and Facebook atwww.facebook.com/hyatthurts

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AFL-CIO Community Services and United Way Partnership

Liaison Program Newsfrom Lynette Swanberg, Director

UAW Local 241 president Del Soiney, Steve Hedlund, VP Jay Jakubek, David Friske, VernStevens, and Zak Smith took time off their strike line to help Anene Jensen (kneeling) andher family with flood relief. Second from right is retired Laborers Local 1091 memberBrian Ronstrom, who was the team leader as he’s been on two dozen such projects for theUnited Way. At right is Aurora Jacobsen of Winona, who came to Duluth to volunteerafter seeing what floods did to Rushford, MN in 2007. (See story page 8.)

Striking UAW members, Laborer’s Ronstrom, volunteer for flood reliefMembers of United Auto

Workers Local 241 are havinga difficult time covering all thedealer locations they are havebeen picketing six days a weeksince they went on strike June15. It’s a small union and manyof their members are still work-ing at dealerships that aren’tpart of the Duluth Auto DealersAssociation. UAW membershave been spending long, hotdays in blazing the sun.

Many of them were also onthe picketline when the June 20rain and floods occurred. OnMonday United Auto WorkersLocal 241 members volun-teered to help a Duluth Heightsfamily that was victimized bythat flooding.

Water and sewage damagedid in the basement and foun-dation of Kyle and AneneJensen’s home. He is a 1stSergeant in the Army NationalGuard currently in his fourthdeployment to Afghanistan aspart of the Joint Force OMLT50 FWD. He won’t get home

again until March after servinganother year teaching andcoaching the Afghan Army.

“After the rain sewagesmells made me concernedabout our health,” said Anene.She and the two children, ages4 and 6, moved in with in-lawsJune 21 and haven’t been ableto back home since. An “unin-habitable” sign from the Cityof Duluth is posted on the frontdoor.

Anene called the UnitedWay of Greater Duluth andthey sent retired LaborersLocal 1091 member BrianRonstrom to assess the dam-age. He has been involved inflood relief from day one andhas assessed or worked on twodozen homes. He had expectedto work on Duluth’s trail sys-tem but found plenty of helpthere.

“No one was available tohelp homeowners so that’swhere I ended up,” Ronstromsaid. “It’s really nice that theseUAW guys showed up.”

“After Brian was hereWednesday, Nikki from UnitedWay called and said she had agroup of mechanics that werevolunteering and she was send-ing them up,” Anene Jensensaid. “We really need the helpand can’t thank them enough.”

“Brian has been unbeliev-able with how much volunteerwork he has done,” saidLynette Swanberg, CommunityServices Director for the AFL-CIO/United Way of GreaterDuluth. “When I told himabout the UAW memberswanting to help some home-owner, Brian was excited aboutworking with the striking unionmembers.”

Anene Jensen said she hastried to maintain as much nor-malcy in her childrens’ lives as

she can. It’s hard enough thattheir Dad is away from homefor another year serving hiscountry. She has worked atWoodland Hills for 16 years.

“My husband’s strong andhas the confidence in me totake care of the home front,”she said. “He knows I’ll do thebest I can.”

The family had homeown-ers insurance but it didn’t coverfloods or sewage backups.

“The sewage was comingout of all the drains and hadfilled the tub to an inch or two

of overflowing,” she said. The UAW members,

Ronstrom and Aurora Jacobsenof Winona, who came toDuluth to volunteer, were tak-ing out walls, plumbing fix-tures, and furniture that wasfilling the front yard.

“We’re going to need morehelp and resources to solvetheir problems,” said Ronstromas a ripped out wall revealed acracked foundation block wall.

It was another hot, muggyday in Duluth Monday for thestriking UAW members. This

time they were making scoresof trips out the basement doorof the Jensen home, up a hill,and around to the front of thehouse with demolition.

“It’s nice to be able to help afamily out,” said UAW Local241 president Del Soiney.“Were got lucky at my houseduring the flood.”

You can contact LynetteSwanberg at 218.726.4775 orcommservices@unitedwayduluth.org if you need assis-tance with problems at yourhome from the flooding.

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PAGE 8 LABOR WORLD NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

UAW Local 241’s Zak Smith hauls another load of debrisfrom the Jensen home Monday morning. A photo of all thevolunteers is on page 7.

This is where the bathtubonce was in the Jensenhome. When it was removedthe first evidence of a dam-aged foundation wallappeared.