Most valuable workers not polled in Fortune survey touting Hyatt

Michael D'Angelo, Hyatt Hotels VP for Labor Relations, issued a patronizing, insulting public statement of self congratulation following Hyatt's new 5 year contract with striking cooks, servers, housekeepers and doormen. These folks, arguably the most important workers hotel guests encounter at Hyatt, have been cruelly denied heath insurance coverage every winter when these 'full time' employees get dumped from the payroll due to reduced business. 6,000 of these workers struck a month ago to get what every employee is entitled to for a decent life...year round health care. Hyatt's main competitors Marriott and Hilton already settled but Hyatt held out. Why? Maybe D'Angelo was worried a fair settlement would put a crimp in the annual $26 million in salaries to the top 5 Hyatt Big Wigs. But a month of business pain and public embarrassment was enough. Hyatt capitulated, giving their workers what they should have gotten on day one of their Hyatt employment.

D'Angelo's touted Hyatt's new 5-year collective bargaining agreement with the hotel workers union stating Hyatt will continue to offer its workers  competitive wages and benefits, omitting they had to strike, losing a month's pay, just to get year round health care. D'Angelo than boasted to these beleaguered workers that Hyatt ranks in the Top 10 on Fortune magazine’s most recent 'Best Companies To Work For' list.”

I'm guessing these valued cooks, servers, housekeepers and doormen weren't included in Fortune's survey.

Unhelpful defense comments mar just Van Dyke verdict

The just verdict in the Jason Van Dyke murder trial should begin a time of healing for all Chicagoland. Prosecutor Joseph McMahon solemnly remarked "the verdict was gratifying", adding "it sends a message of hope that our justice system works for everyone." Whatever healing occurs won't result from defense attorney Daniel Herbert who called the verdict "a sad day for law enforcement. I can only imagine if police officers think they can never fire against someone who is acting the way Laquan McDonald had whey they're 12 feet away from him." What Herbert laments is precisely what every one of our million cops must think when encountering  another Laquan McDonald.  Alas, Herbert's unhelpful words were topped by Illinois Fraternal Order of Police leader Chris Southwood who said "This is a day I never thought I'd see in America where 12 ordinary citizens were duped into saving the asses of self serving politicians at the expense of a dedicated public servant.

Herbert and Southwood's comments only serve to inflame tensions over inner city policing and must be called out and resisted by all of us of good will.

Trump mandates $16/hr minimum wage for Mexico; $7.25/hr just fine for US

Some of my progressive friends are touting Trump's NAFTA revision because of its 2023 mandate for 40% of components of all cars in NAFTA countries be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. As Tribune pundit Steve Chapman points out, that move will largely punish Mexico, enticing auto makers to abandon Mexico manufacturing with its low wage rates. If Trump's GOP had any interest whatsoever in minimum wage workers' welfare, they would cease their relentless opposition to any increase in the US minimum wage of $7.25/hr, a slave wage that has not increased in over 9 years. As with any imagined goody Trump trumpets, there is not only no beef...there's no bun and no ketchup. 

When did bulging eyes become a lethal weapon?

I listened to police officer Jason Van Dyke's live testimony with dismay in his trial for murder of Laquan McDonald. Just before shooting, Van Dyke offered this bizarre explanation:

“His [Laquan’s] face had no expression, his eyes were just bugging out of his head. He had these huge white eyes, just staring right through me.” Having remarked about McDonald's bulging white eyes several times before he shot him 16 times, it was clear Van Dyke was trying to invoke sympathy, even justification for his conduct.

Do you suppose instructors at the police academy warn all new recruits to beware the 'bulging white eyes'?

The moves one makes

The apparent moves Brett Kavanaugh made against unwilling women decades ago are rightly being scrutinized by the Senate, the public and now the FBI. But it's the more recent Kavanaugh moves that may decide the fate of his Supreme Court confirmation. Reports that he may have moved to line up friendly faces to discredit the earlier moves before those earlier moves were made public may yet result in one final move: to withdraw his nomination.