The Young Turks - Canadian Confederates!

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

Striking concrete workers in Seattle have shut down the city’s $23 billion construction industry. Canadian protesters blocked the busiest international crossing into North America as tensions ramp up over Covid-19 rules. A lawsuit says that a Las Vegas bartender, who was robbed at gunpoint, should be forced to repay bosses' stolen money. Amazon has received $4.7 billion in subsidies globally. Ilhan Omar breaks down Congress’ ‘high school’ cliques. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Hello there and welcome to the Young Turks. I'm your host, Anna Kasparian, and we've got massive, incredibly important and also fun stories for you in the show today. We're gonna talk about the continuing labor movement in America, starting with the concrete worker strike in Seattle. It's a really incredible story that's been completely ignored, considering the fact that they've been striking for literally months. So it's likely that you haven't even heard anything about it.

It's getting no media pickup, but it's an important story because it has a domino effect on the construction industry. and also for Joe Biden's infrastructure plan. Later, we'll also talk about the trucker's strike, of course, or strike is not the right way to say this. The trucker's demonstration in Canada, which is now spreading to other parts of the globe, including the United States. We'll talk about who's behind this,

what they're protesting, and we'll have David Dole, the host of the Rational National to join us to help us decipher for what's really going on and who's really behind all of this. In the second hour, a story involving the cheesiest couple that you will ever meet, who have now faced some pretty serious federal charges for money laundering Bitcoin. So we've got that and more. But before we get to all the topics, as always, just want to encourage you to smash that like button.

Share the show with friends, family, anyone you can on social media, help us out, help us get the message out there. Without further ado, let's get to our first story about the striking workers in Seattle. Concrete workers in Seattle have been striking not for one, not for two, but nearly three months. But you wouldn't know it because the corporate media hasn't given it an ounce of coverage. But we'll talk about it because it's an important story that has a ripple effect on society. It has an impact on infrastructure. It's going to have an impact on the Biden administration. And I think it's an incredibly important story to know the details about.

So the workers want something very simple. It's usually what you see in strikes. They want better wages. They want to ensure that they have better health care benefits and a decent pension to retire on. In fact, here's more from the striking concrete workers in Seattle. We worked through the pandemic for them, made them a tough. ton of money during the pandemic, and to turn around and deny these families, the same medical coverage that we earned, you know, just two, three years ago is crazy.

They think they can benefit in the long run off of shortchanging us when they've even said they have the money to give us what we're looking for. The biggest single thing we're demanding is respect. They refuse to negotiate. It's their turn to put another offer on the table, and they refuse to. Inflation, the cost of living around here has gone through the road. My local Safeway, just up the hill in West Seattle, that is, they're selling ground B for $7.99 a pound. And we're building a city that we're not able to live in anymore.

And to be quite honest, that is something that workers across the country are experiencing. All of these cities, all of these towns becoming so unbearably expensive. to the point where the workers need to commute further and further away in order to afford housing. And so it is incredible to see how much this strike has grown over, again, three months. And it began in November with just 34 workers. Now it has spread to six construction companies, and it includes hundreds of workers. Now, picket lines on major construction sites around Pugent Sound region have been in effect Since November of 2021, thousands of construction workers have been laid off as a result, and more will likely follow as negotiations with concrete suppliers remain at a standstill.

Now, the employers claim that, you know, they're totally trying to negotiate in good faith. I had a conversation with the communications director for the union representing these striking workers, and it turns out that that's a lie. They are unwilling to negotiate and as a result are just kind of waiting out the situation to see if they could make the strike end by ensuring that the workers are incredibly desperate. At this point, many of them have to rely on Cobra in order to provide health insurance for themselves and their families. The communications director for the union also told me that there's one worker, for instance, whose wife has cancer. And the situation is dire, and the employers here are hoping, well, maybe if we just abandon them for now, eventually they'll be so desperate that they'll have no choice but to accept

our terms and what we want in the contract. Now, the companies that are experiencing this strike include Cadman. There's Cal, Portland, Glacier, Northwest, Salmon Bay Sand, Gravel, I'm sorry, salmon, bay, sand, and gravel, lehigh cement, stoneway cement, stoneway concrete, and Gary Molino. In terms of Gary Molino, apparently workers with that company had walked off the job on an unfair labor practice strike on November, November 19th specifically, the other suppliers have been impacted by similar strikes since December 3rd. Now, employers, again, are stonewalling. They're refusing to have these contract negotiations. with the striking workers. And so Jamie Fleming, this is the communications director

that had a conversation with, she's the spokesperson for the Teamsters 174 representing 330 workers employed by various local concrete suppliers. She noted that thousands of construction workers have been laid off over the course of the strike with more to come. Striking members with Teamsters 174 lost healthcare coverage on February 1st, as I mentioned earlier. Now, this is having a domino effect. Because if you don't have the materials necessary to do construction, you can't do construction. So this is not only impacting the striking workers, it's also having impacts on carpenters, contractors, other construction workers. Corporations that were expanding and looking forward to building new headquarters, Microsoft and Facebook included,

are now having to delay their projects. And while some might argue, well, that sucks, because other workers are being impacted by this. This is the kind of pressure that a strike leads to, the kind of pressure that makes people kind of rally together to find a solution to ensure that the needs of the workers are actually represented. And for those of you who are wondering, well, are the other workers in other trades feeling angry about this or is there solidarity? Well, let's watch the rest of this video because you'll find out toward the end.

When concrete doesn't get delivered, it is a domino effect. The steel workers ran out of work first. Then it'll be the carpenters, obviously the concrete finishers, and it just trickles on down the line. When you can't pour another deck on a high-rise, they can't keep going up. You know, it's painful it is to watch these other guys getting laid off. I have many friends that have texts that are called me and let me know that,

hey, what's going on? They're asking, are the companies coming to terms? Are they even talking to you guys? because they're sitting at home too. The other trades have really come through for us. They come to a strike line. They bring us protein, sweets, snacks, water, coffee, jokes, handshakes, and thank you. This is the kind of support I was telling you about.

You love to see it. And there really is this growing labor militancy across the country. I mean, we've seen it with so many different strikes, so many different efforts to unionize. We're seeing it with Starbucks, we're seeing it with REI now. We've covered the John Deere strike, which did lead to great results. The workers were able to agree to a contract that they deemed fair, and they were able to see better benefits, better working conditions, and better pay. And so I think that workers, especially in these trades, understand what's at stake here.

While it's obviously incredibly frustrating to have this instability, at the same time, what ends up happening is it applies the pressure necessary to these employers to really rethink how they carry out these labor negotiations. Now, there are ways that you can help support these striking workers if you're interested. They do have a fund. They refer to it as the hardship fund, and for anyone who wants to help, will include a link in the description box below. Just click on that, donate what you can, because it's really what's helping to sustain these workers as they engage in the strike. And they mean business. Like I said, it's been going on for three months. Like it's really interesting to see how undeterred they are, regardless of the pressure that

they're facing as a result of these employers, ensuring that they're kind of left in the dark without health care benefits. The other news I wanted to share with you is how others are responding to this. For instance, the chief of the transit board in the area is frustrated because they were supposed to expand the public transportation there. And so here's what he had to say. Since early December or after the strike began, we've missed delivery of more than 14,000 cubic yards of concrete. That's equivalent to 1,400 truck loads, or to give you some perspective, a line of concrete truck stretching more than nine miles in length. So again, this has a ripple effect. And I would just ask the federal government, I'm sure they see this as like some local

labor dispute, not anything to be worried about. But for all the Democrats out there who rely on, or plan to rely on the passage of that pro-corporate infrastructure bill, if that's what you're going to campaign on to get reelected, you're in a lot of trouble because everything here is connected. These concrete workers are striking and it is having a ripple effect on the construction industry. That includes building or expanding infrastructure. Have, has anyone in the federal government drawn attention to this or gotten involved? I'm sure eventually Bernie Sanders will say something because he always does if he hasn't already. But the corporate Democrats who keep talking about the importance of infrastructure, who keep saying, no, no, don't, don't criticize

us for not doing anything about police reform, voting rights, social spending, all the other things that we promised you, student loan debt. Don't pay attention to that. Just pay attention to this wonderful thing that we did in a bipartisan way. That fantastic pro-corporate infrastructure bill. Well, again, if you're going to run on that, you got a little problem because workers feel that they've been neglected. They feel that they're not getting their fair share of the pie. And again, that is going to impact not only Seattle, not only Washington, but the rest of the country, especially considering how much concrete is being basically produced and distributed from this hub. So are you guys going to do anything about it? Or are you going to

pretend like the workers don't mean anything? I think what's incredible about this story and all the other labor militancy that we've been talking about on the show, is that it shows you, A, just how much power workers do have if they organize, have union protection, and are able to strike. It does apply the necessary pressure to, you know, take a little control in your workplace. But aside from that, all of this stuff is so connected. And so when we talk about issues with the supply chain, remember, our supply chain is vulnerable, specifically because the very people who are so critical to that supply chain have been abused for so long. They've had enough. They're seeing record profits among their employers. And they're not getting their fair share

of that pie. And so again, Democrats, wakey, waky, I know that they're not talking about the pro bill anymore. I know they don't care too much about building a society that's a little more friendly to workers who wish to organize into unions. But if you're going to ignore stories like this, there will be a political price to pay. Again, especially if you're looking forward to campaigning on infrastructure. All right, we got to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to juxtapose this awesome labor strike with what we're seeing in Canada and now, unfortunately, in other countries, truckers who are demonstrating against coronavirus measures, including the vaccine. Lots of fun. David Dole from the Rational National will be

joining me to talk about that story and more. We'll be right back. Welcome back to TYT. Just want to read one member comment, not DeWizzle, aka Trail Wagon Dragon, writes it and says, thank you for covering this concrete issue. So that's very good, very good. That's in regard to the concrete workers strike in Seattle. So I always love the cheesy dad jokes, especially when Jank isn't here, because who else is going to fill that role? So thank you to our members. All right, without further ado, let's talk about what I would call the antithesis of the concrete worker strike in Seattle, the Canadian trucker demonstrations in Canada. So let's get right to it.

Protesters are demanding to be heard all day long. and at all hours of the night, those with the so-called freedom convoy say they're staying put. This has been nothing but like disrupt. Like they're using, they're claiming their freedom while I can't even like hear anything like I can't even hear myself. There is an ongoing demonstration in Canada. revolving truckers and other protesters who feel the need to impede access to the biggest international crossing in North America.

They've been doing this repeatedly while also escalating tensions with locals in the community who happen to want to wear masks during a global pandemic. Now this problem has only grown and the demonstrations are now spreading to other countries as well. And this is not about working conditions, this is not about wages. This is not about pensions. This is specifically about people who don't want to get vaccinated, who don't want to follow safety precautions during an ongoing pandemic.

And while I'm certainly empathetic to those who are feeling fatigued in regard to this coronavirus pandemic, there's also the need to ensure that we're not only protecting ourselves, protecting our communities, because this is a contagious virus. And as we've experienced with multiple COVID spikes, unvaccinated individuals end up filling hospital beds, and as a result, hospitals end up turning others with other ailments away. It is a public health concern. But not for these individuals. Now, keep in mind that Canada is doing a lot better than the United States in regard to vaccinations.

Over 80% of Canadians are vaccinated, right? In the United States, the number is lower, unfortunately. However, for those who don't want to get vaccinated, including these truckers, they're trying to make a point and they're doing it in pretty vicious ways, including honking their horns simultaneously. So people living in communities like Ottawa, for instance, are unable to sleep. Now, in Ottawa on Tuesday, for instance, several hundred trucks continue to paralyze the city center. But the nonstop honking of previous days appeared to have subsided. Reports on local radio in Ottawa said, were able to keep undisturbed or sleep undisturbed for the first time in over a week. But many businesses have been shuttered during the protests losing tens of millions of dollars. That's because these truckers are blocking the roads, which is, of course, terrible for the businesses. Also pretty terrible for people who are trying to get to the hospital, any type of emergency vehicle. So something to think about. But apparently, the health and safety of others

isn't something that these individuals seem to care too much about. Now the protest has been spreading and now there is some organizing happening in the United States to encourage people to engage in their own blockade. While smaller than the protests that have been buffeted, that have buffeted the core of Ottawa, Canada's capital. The new protest targets the ambassador's bridge to Detroit. The bridge is a vital link for the automobile industry, which relies on a constant shuttling of parts and components across the border to keep factories humming in Ontario and the Midwestern United States. So that's of course gonna hurt auto workers here in the United States.

It'll also hurt anyone who's looking to purchase a vehicle. Prices were already inflated and incredibly high and the problem is only gonna be exacerbated by this. More than 40,000 commuters, by the way, commuters, and truck drivers cross the Ambassador bridge each day. Flavio Volp, the president of the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, a Canadian trade group, said that about $300 million in goods cross the bridge daily, with about 100 million of that related to the auto industry. And unfortunately, police have had a very difficult time keeping control of this situation. I just want to go to this video

where police explain just how dire this situation really has been. Ottawa police say they have learned much in the past week, especially after reports of assaults, intimidation, and allegations of hate speech and symbols. Our goal is to end the demonstration. To try and do that, they have called in more reinforcements, moving to what they call a surge and contain strategy. But the police chief warns...

This remains, as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration. And it is spreading, like a contagionate, right across the country, a handful of protests now, including a border blockade between Alberta and Montana. And now Canada's largest city, Toronto, closing a large section in front of the provincial legislature this weekend as truckers descend, and more worrying, closing off the adjacent hospital row where exhausted healthcare workers carry on battling COVID. And so people living in the community are frustrated. Many Ottawa residents,

for instance, feel terrorized in their own homes and are angry that protesters were allowed to settle in, blocking streets surrounding their ear splitting horns or sounding their ear splitting horns in the middle of the night and in some cases intimidating residents for things like wearing masks, because you know, these people are totally for freedom and they just want to encroach on your freedom to wear a mask just to keep yourself and other safe during this pandemic. Joining us now is a resident of Canada and also a good friend of the show, David Dole. He is the host and founder of the Rational National and I'm very happy to invite him on the show right now. So David, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. So I want to talk a little

bit about the, you know, the people behind the scenes that are supporting this, funding this and encouraging this because I think that there is this misconception in regard to, oh, well, this is a worker's strike and these are people who are really standing up for themselves. But this couldn't be further than the truth. This definitely has a right wing bent to it. So can you talk about that a little bit? Yeah, and it's important to separate the people that think they're supporting this because they're supporting the truckers versus what this convoy actually is. So first of all, to be clear, about 90% of truckers are vaccinated. They support the mandates, as the vast majority people in Canada support vaccine mandates for hospital workers, for people that worked in

schools. So that aspect of it is definitely a fringe of individuals. But on top of that, what's important to point out is what they are not discussing. So this convoy, while claiming to stand up for the working class, 17% of federally regulated employees work in trucking. Yet they make up about 80% of labor standards violations between 2006 and 2018, which includes things like wage theft, like misclassifying employees as contractors to skirt regulators. So these These are actual working class issues that could be raised in a convoy like this if it was about the working class truckers, but in reality what you are seeing, the minority that are there, most of them are the actual owners of these companies that mistreat their workers. So by this idea of twisting it around and act like this is a working class uprising, when the vast majority of the working class people support vaccines, support mandates, as well as the truckers do, is just, you know, absurd. David, it's so important that you highlighted that because I think that detail gets left out in much of the reporting, certainly here in the states, right?

I mean, you have to do a lot of digging to figure out who's really behind this. It seems like these are just working class individuals, but it's really the employers in the trucking industry. I want to understand why. I mean, if we're dealing with folks who are unvaccinated, it is likely that if they do end up getting sick with coronavirus, well, it'll knock them out more than likely, and I don't mean that they're definitely going to die, but their symptoms are definitely going to be more severe compared to an individual who might get a breakthrough infection, but they're vaccinated. So what is the incentive here for the employers? They're going to lose productivity if their truckers are sick. Like, what are they

trying to do here? Yeah, to be honest with you, this is a question I also struggle with, because it makes absolutely no sense in terms of the science in terms of how, you know, this virus impacts us if we're not vaccinated. It doesn't make any sense for them to be against these vaccine mandates. A lot of it though is just they don't want any regulation at all. And this, you know, applies to every sector, be it how they treat their employees, be it, you know, a vaccine mandate. They don't want to have any sorts of restrictions like this. And a lot of it, I mean, we get back to the money. It's, you know, it's not clear, of course, where exactly a lot of this money is coming from. They are forced to move from GoFundMe to another

crowd source or crowdfunding platform where they're now taking crypto. So there's donations from, you know, a dollar to $25,000 that are anonymous. So who knows where that's coming from. But there is definitely a question that this really just appears to be a way to try and bring the anti-vax, anti-mandate sentiment and funnel these people into a more right-wing message. And that's what they've done with oil and gas workers in the past, the past couple of years, very similar organizers behind that kind of movement, have also been behind this movement. So it seems to be this effort to really try and recruit for the right by using this anti-vax sentiment. And that was also shown during the last election as well in Canada, where there was this sentiment,

as Americans have, the fringe of individuals that don't believe in vaccines, there was that attempt to try and grab those people and funnel them into a more right wing party in Canada being the people's party of Canada. Oh, it's fascinating. So talk to me a little bit about what it was like to, you know, or what it has been like to experience this pandemic in Canada because while we talk about it on the show time to time, it's important to remind folks in this context that Canada was very different from the United States in regard to providing the social spending necessary to keep people whole as they were, you know, forced into lockdowns and all of that. So when you talk about the juxtaposition of the employers here versus the actual

truckers, the workers, how do the truckers feel about the handling of the pandemic in Canada? Have they been frustrated with the government? Are they overwhelmingly, you know, satisfied with how the government has handled it? Are there legitimate concerns? So there are real concerns. And so this is always a, for me, this always depends on who I'm talking to. So if I'm talking to, you know, Americans, Canada has done a little more here in terms of taking care of the work in terms of having a, you know, a sort of a, well, a wage subsidy for employers, but also a wage replacement. If you were out of work during the pandemic and taking care of people, of course, you have single pair of healthcare. So a lot of the worry around this impacts of how the virus may impact you. A lot of those worries aren't there. But there of course, you know, there's a lack of at home test. There's been a lack of contact tracing. There have been a lack of real measures put in place that would have been able to really help us even further in this pandemic. Even though, you know, compare numbers to the U.S.

We're doing a lot better than Americans are. But there's still a lot more that we could be doing. And also part of the issue here is each province deals with these public health issues separately. So, you know, Ontario is different than BC. It's different than Alberta. So there's been a lot of a sort of a disjointed approach to handling this pandemic. And that's also has caused, you know, an issue with our ability to battle this pandemic as successfully as we could have. But that said, by and large, comparing us to Americans, we are doing much better. But yes, people have issues. Of course, you know, we're all tired of this virus. We're all pissed off. And that's why at the beginning of this convoy, it had a lot of support because people are tired. of these lockdowns are tired of having to wear a mask. But you have to think about it for just a second. You know, pretending the virus is gone is not going to make the virus go away. We have to actually deal with it. We have to have these public measures in place to protect the most vulnerable,

even though, yes, if you are healthy for the vast majority of people, they're not going to be as impacted by the virus as somebody who's younger or older. But then just disregarding those people who may be immunocompromised, who may be more impacted by COVID-19, is just to me, you know, psychotic. We have to care about society as a whole, take care of everyone and have these public health measures in place and ensure that we are vaccinated to protect as much people as possible. Not only that, I mean, aside from immunocompromised individuals, which we should be concerned about, whenever there's a COVID spike, hospitals end up being overwhelmed with COVID patients who are unvaccinated. I know that's the case here in the United States.

are you experiencing something similar in Canada during COVID spikes? Oh yeah, especially during Omicron. It was horrible. So it's gotten better now as the wave has gone down a bit. But yeah, we definitely dealt with that here as well. Okay. So, I mean, it's kind of becoming clear and clear what the real intentions and motivations are here. The fact that this is really a demonstration by employers rather than actual workers is an important point to make.

But, you know, the thing that really stands out to me is the failure of the government and law enforcement to get things under control. It's something that we see here in the United States as well. And it worries me because it shows you the vulnerability and the weakness of our institutions. And so what do you see at play in regard to law enforcement? Why have they had such a difficult time getting things under control? Honestly, because they're not indigenous protesters. They're not Black Lives Matter. They're not environmentalists.

So it's not as much of an issue for them as if it were, you know, one of those groups. That ultimately is the problem here. But again, that doesn't mean, you know, this is an issue I struggle with as well, because I don't want to encourage the police to go out there, you know, and knock some skulls. So we have to have a sort of approach here with that that makes sense. But it's just to point out the hypocrisy where you know if indigenous protesters were in Ottawa for a week honking their horn, like this would have been over in 12 hours. The police would have been out there, like, would have arrested,

everybody, but it's a much different approach when it's this convoy. And that should get people pause to maybe realize, hey, what is this really about? And when you see like swastika's flying or you see the Confederate flag there, if that appeared at a Black Lives Matter protest or a environmentalist protest or indigenous protest, that flag would be ripped away immediately. That person kicked out of that protest because they're not part of what that movement is. Yet here, they're accepted and it's fine. So you can't just say, oh, you know, one or two, two people are doing this. If they allow these sorts of people flying these kinds of symbols into this group, that shows you what the entire group is about. Wow, Canadian Confederates.

What a sight to see. It was amazing to see. Yeah, really. It's incredible. Well, David, I'm sure the story is going to keep developing and we'll probably call on you to help us decipher what's really going on. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Thank you. All right, I kind of want to move on to our next story. We've got time in this segment. So why don't we do that? There's a lot more to get to in the rundown today. So I want to talk about this robber boss, this guy in Las Vegas who decided to further victimize his own employee who had been robbed at gunpoint.

So imagine the trauma of being robbed at gunpoint, especially when you're at work. And then imagine being put on the hook by your employer to pay that money back. That is what happened to one bartender in Las Vegas who's now taking action against his employer. But I got to be honest with you, Homeboy took a lot of abuse before he finally decided to stand up for himself. And we give him all the support because he definitely deserves justice in this case. We're talking about Edward Parker. So Edward Parker was working as a bartender in Las Vegas back in December of 2020 when an armed robber walks in points a gun at his face. There's video surveillance of this. You could watch it online and demands money.

So of course, in an effort to avoid getting shot to death, Edward Parker decided to hand over the money from the cash register. There was about $4,000 in there. and he then was forced by his employer to pay the money back. The money that was robbed from him while a gun was pointed at his face. His wages were garnished, about $300 per paycheck, and now he's actually taking action against this employer, and he's getting a shout out there from Las Vegas locally. Shout out to Edward Parker for having the guts to expose these shady bar owners. And by the way, this is actually a practice that you see in the food service industry.

People will walk out on their checks, they won't pay, and then the owner of the restaurant will force the server to pay back the money that was lost as a result of customers refusing to pay their check, which, by the way, is illegal. Under very few circumstances, the employer can get away with it. For instance, if there's proof that the server was being negligent, they might be able to get away with it. But that's illegal. Employers are not allowed to do that. In this case, we have an extreme example where someone gets robbed, there's a gun pointed at his face, and to add insult to injury, his employer tries to put him on the hook for this. So to give you

more detail into what happened, after the robbery took place, only hours after that, mere hours, his employer did the most callous thing imaginable. His bosses then presented Parker with a repayment form and worried he'd be fired, he decided to sign it. So imagine, you just had something traumatic happened to you. You don't even have a time, you don't have the time necessary to just calm down and try to find some peace, right? That is a traumatic experience. You think you're going to die.

You have a gun pointed at your face. And before he could relax a little bit, the employers hand him this form, and they're like, you should sign this, you know, we're going to garnish your wages. It's just, it's a form indicating that you agree to us garnishing your wages. So you pay back that $4,000 that was robbed from us. And he signed it. He felt like he had no other choice. But the story, believe it or not, guys, it gets worse.

So apparently his paycheck was docked $300 at a time before the nearly $4,000 debt was paid off by the end of June, reports NBC News. Now, despite being forced into the repayment plan and suffering, panic attacks and major anxiety, Parker just kept working, according to this lawsuit. Now, eventually, he paid back all the money. And then he had some time off. He had a approved vacation time. And he decided to take a little bit of time off. He's like, all right, I just went through something awful, maybe a little bit of time to myself to, you know, recover mentally from what I've been through. And you know what happened after that? they fired him.

They fired him. And it wasn't until they decided to fire him that Edward decided, you know what, I'm going to sue. This is crazy. In July, he was demoted to extra board status, meaning he'd be used only for on-call work. And he has never been asked to work there again, according to this lawsuit. By the way, two people connected with this robbery have been around. arrested and there's absolutely no indication that these robbers knew the worker, there's no indication that this was an inside job. Edward Parker did nothing wrong here. The only thing

that he did wrong was give his employer the benefit of the doubt, which he definitely should not have done. I mean, look, working here, I know it's cliche, you hear people say it all the time and I kind of cringe when I hear it. But no, like I can never imagine Jank coming to me or anyone at this workplace and saying, oh, we just got robbed of these computers and so we're going to garnish your wages until we make up that lost money. No, it never happened. But it happens all the time in many jobs across the country. This is a more extreme example. And the only reason why we know about it is because the worker did have the courage to finally file a lawsuit against the bar owners, the employers here. But I mean, it is amazing how disposable workers are to some

employers in this country. They mean nothing to them, even though these are the individuals who are doing the work necessary to make the profits that they live off of, to keep their bars running, to keep their restaurants running. And I'm very happy that he found counsel. You know, he's got his lawyers, he's filing this lawsuit, he's moving forward. But, you know, if this was a restaurant that had, you know, more representation through a union, for instance, I would argue that the union would intervene much sooner and ensure that his wages would not have been garnished in the first place.

But I'm glad he's taking them to court. He definitely deserves to be compensated, all that money. that was garnished from his wages should be paid back and then some. And employers should be put on notice. This kind of behavior is insanely illegal. And again, even if you are a server who had this unfortunate experience of people walking out on their checks, your employer is not allowed to garnish your wages as a result. So just a cautionary tale, protect yourselves, protect your wages, and don't put up with

this garbage. All right, we got to take a quick break. When we come back, we've got more stories, including the ongoing system of corporate welfare in the United States. I'm going to tell you just how much Amazon saved in taxes last year. And then we'll talk about the toxicity of the congressional workplace, what it's like to be a member of Congress, a staffer working for a congressperson. It is insanely toxic and dangerous. And we should call it out. We've got that and more when we come back.

Welcome back to the show, Anna Casparian. I want to read just a few more comments in our super chat section. So Dade writes in and says, I love how the right claims to protest the actions in which they regularly engage, my freedom at the expense of yours. Yeah, I mean, with the Ottawa demonstrators, the fact that they're harassing people in the community who want to wear masks, if you believe in freedom, then you would leave people wearing masks alone. But they don't actually, it doesn't seem like they're really fighting for freedom. It seems like, as David Dole mentioned, you have the actual employers involved, not wanting any vaccine mandates or regulations pertaining to COVID. Valky writes in and says, as a Canadian, I'm deeply disappointed in the conservative provincial governments that are bending to the convoy.

The person heading the convoy is a known white supremacist in Canada. His beliefs are dangerous and harmful to Canadian diversity. Thank you for sharing that perspective. And I wasn't 100% sure about that. So I didn't want to say it myself, but I'm glad that you confirmed what I had read earlier. But yeah, I mean, that's, I think what you need to be able to parse out what legitimate demonstrations are really about, right? Like if you have workers striking because they're being abused in the workplace, that's one

thing. But in this case, you just have what appears to be petulant children who don't want to do the bare minimum to ensure that other lives are saved. I mean, their lives, yes, but remember, we're talking about hospitals that keep getting flooded with unvaccinated COVID patients, which. means someone who needs cancer treatment, someone who might get sick for other reasons, gets turned away. They don't get a hospital bed. It is a problem. It impacts the entire community. But there's a selfishness to this that's incredibly frustrating.

Speaking of selfishness, why don't we talk about Amazon? Because corporate welfare is alive and well in the United States, and this latest report will give you specific data to back that up. While Americans can't even get a pared down moderate social spending bill passed through our corporate Senate, we're now dealing with this ongoing trend of corporate welfare where ordinary American workers pay a much higher percentage of their earnings in federal income taxes, while massive corporations like Amazon pay a far smaller percentage toward federal income taxes. In fact, there is a new report showing you how bad the numbers really are. This is based on data from 2021 last year.

And this analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows that Amazon utilize several perfectly legal mechanisms to avoid paying $5.2 billion, not million, $5.2 billion in federal corporate income taxes in 2021. But hey, don't worry, don't worry everyone. The federal government through the IRS will make up for that because if you're selling something on Etsy or if you have like a little side hustle going on, they will come for you. They're making sure that they track every transaction above $600, okay?

So don't worry, they're coming after, you know, whatever grandma's knitting on Etsy or whatever someone, some young person is selling on. on that platform, they'll be taxed their fair share. But Amazon, they get to skirt $5.2 billion in taxes. Now, as you noticed, that graphic mentioned that this is perfectly legal, because it is. We do have a system, a robust welfare system in this country. It's just that that welfare system only benefits those who are already privileged, major corporations, the very people, very corporations that should be paying their fair share, but they get away

with paying nothing, and the person who empowered them further was Donald Trump through his 2017 Trump era tax cuts for the rich. Let me give you more details. This same report done by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimated that given Amazon's record breaking $35 billion in U.S. pre-tax income for fiscal year 2021, the company paid an effective federal income tax rate of just 6%, which of course, as you know, is far lower than what the alleged corporate tax rate is of 21%. So when we talk about the corporate tax rate, there's the theoretical corporate tax rate, which in this case would be 21%. Remember, Trump lowered it from 35 to 21%. But he didn't get rid of the corporate tax loopholes, all those deductions that these corporations get to make.

And so it's not even 21% that they pay. They pay far lower because they get to take advantage of those corporate tax loopholes. Welfare for the rich. Let me give you more though. If Amazon had paid the 21% corporate tax rate, which I argue is still too low, they'd be on the hook to pay more than $7.3 billion in taxes in 2021. But obviously that didn't happen. Now over the past four years, Amazon reported a total federal tax rate of just 5.1% on over $78 billion of U.S. income. But look, there's good news, okay? I don't want to be too hard on Amazon because they do wonderful things with those tax savings. They really do. For instance, they definitely provide the Ziploc baggies necessary for their truck drivers to defecate in as they're doing their

deliveries, maybe some plastic bottles for the warehouse workers to urinate in because they're not allowed to take any breaks, remember that. And the workers in the warehouse, of course, I mean, very lucrative job. I mean, how much are they making? Well, let's juxtapose here. So while raking in massive profits, handing CEO Andy Jassy, a huge compensation package, and doubling its cap on base salaries for corporate employees to $350,000, Amazon is working aggressively to crush a unionization effort by warehouse employees in Bessemer, Alabama. And by the way, in 2021, I'm sure you all know that Jeff Bezos experienced an increase in his wealth to the tune of $1.4 billion. But let's get back to that corporate employee cap. So you know what that means, right?

That means that if you're one of the corporate employees at Amazon, the minimum salary you get is $350,000. So they made sure that the corporate side got got their business. their pay increase. I mean, they've saved so much in taxes. You know, they've made record profits, especially during the pandemic. But the workers, they make on average $16 an hour or a whopping $31,000 a year if they're lucky enough to be full-time employees. $31,000 a year.

So going back to Bessemer, Alabama, as we know, Amazon did crush those efforts. The unionization effort failed in Bessemer. However, luckily, the workers fought back because there was some illegal union busting taking place. And so they're gonna get a second chance to vote to unionize, which is great news. And the workers are optimistic, we'll see how it all plays out. Of course, we'll fill you all in on this. But I wanna now take you to this video from a more perfect union.

They spoke to some of these workers, some of the organizers, trying to unionize. And here's what they had to say. The reason why I think it's going to be different this time around is just by the sheer fact that a lot of us are showing that we are committed to forming our union. A lot of us are showing that regardless of the things that they throw our way, whether it be the turnover rate, or whether it be the mandatory anti-union meetings, or whether it be surveillance, we're going to stick together. Last year, a lot of people was uninformed, uneducated. The loss was a blessing, because guess what? That made that loss making us motivated to win even more.

The employees, a lot of them didn't vote. A lot of young people. A lot of young people didn't understand the importance of the union. But after we lost that vote, you know how many people said, I should have voted that I should have. So it's a lot of mind change. They went home talk to their parents, their grandparents. So I'm excited that they get another chance to do this and the organizers of this effort remain undeterred. Hopefully it plays out well for them. I hope they do get the representation they need because look, this is I think the perfect story to show you just how much money a company can make, just how much they can save in these low taxes for the rich and for corporations.

And they don't want to share it with the workers, the very people that they have to rely on for the business to run in the first place. So again, really hoping that they're able to accomplish what they're trying to accomplish in Bessemer, Alabama, and we'll update you on the story as we learn more. All right, moving on, this final story I thought was interesting because Ilhan Omar actually decided to speak a little more candidly about just how toxic Congress really is. During a recent podcast episode called The New Abnormal, Representative Ilhan Omar wade in on the toxic nature of Congress, which seems like one of the worst places to work, to be honest with you. Now, if you want to consider fundraising and theater work, yes, it's one of the most toxic workplaces in the country. And Ilhan Omar did not hold back. She said, quote, I think it's probably one of the most toxic environments I've ever been in. It's just like high school, it's very click driven.

Now, she had more to say about the environment there, but I want to provide a specific example that just happened recently. It involves Democratic representative Joyce Beattie and a Republican representative by the name of Hal Rogers. So what happened here? Well, Beattie took to Twitter to call Rogers out on the way he treated her recently, saying today, while heading to the House floor for votes, I respectfully asked my colleague, Representative Hal Rogers,

to put on a mask while boarding the train. He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, kiss my ass. Wow. Kiss my ass. First of all, don't put your damn hands on anyone. Okay, and telling a woman, a colleague, anyone really to kiss your ass after they ask you politely to do something that will prevent the spread of a super contagious virus is just really, that's the kind of person anyone would want representing them in this country.

I mean, it's just like so callous, doesn't care about anything but his own feelings, what he wants, his own freedoms, whatever, whatever story he's telling himself in his mind. BD continues to write, this is the kind of disrespect, we have been fighting for years and indicative of the larger issue we have with GOP members, flaunting health and, yeah, flaunting health and safety mandates designed to keep us and our staff safe. And she calls for an apology later, saying, Representative Rogers, when you are ready to grow up and apologize for your behavior, you know where to find me. Now, I'm guessing calling him out publicly led to enough pressure that he did actually apologize. According to him, on Twitter, he says this afternoon, I met with Representative Beattie. To personally apologize, my words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her first and foremost. But this is what politics has become in this country, right? I mean, something as simple as a mask is now a culture-war.

symbol. Everything has devolved into some sort of culture war. Education, culture war. COVID culture war. Anything you could imagine. Anything involving a new movie coming out, culture war, culture war, that's all they want you to focus on. And what does that culture war do? Oftentimes, by the way, manufactured culture wars, culture wars that are based on absolutely nothing. Like you see all of these red states signing bills that are meant to prevent transgender athletes from competing in the sports that they identify with, competing with the gender that they identify with. As if this is like this huge problem in the country, then you ask those Republican lawmakers in these red states, okay, cool, you just passed this bill,

governor just signed it must be a real problem. Can you name one transgender athlete that inspired this legislation? And they can't name one. They can't name one. You know why? Because it's manufactured garbage meant to distract. So you have the manufactured culture wars, and what does it lead to? Non-stop fighting, non-stop conflicts, combativeness within Congress. Remember, these are not negotiated, these aren't heated negotiations about fixing our health care system. These are childish, juvenile fights over something as simple as wearing a damn mask when

you're entering a train. It's so pathetic. It's embarrassing, really. It's embarrassing that I look at members of Congress and I see children. I see people who embarrass me, who make me feel shame. It's just I can't take it anymore. Let me give you more. So let's get back to Representative Omar because she had other statements in regard to Congress.

She says everybody sort of talks to their core group. And those who want to screw people hang around together. those who want to help the American people are huddled in their own quarters. Those who, you know, don't think the Constitution can evolve are in, I don't know, they're hanging out on the roof or something. They're like the real crazies who don't recognize that it actually took an amendment to the Constitution for them to serve Congress. And then there's like the rest of us. Listen, Marjorie Taylor Green today was trying to make a point about something, fear monger about something. I don't even know the context. I don't even

care. But she wanted to refer to the Gestapo. And she used the word gaspacho, which two very different things. And it's embarrassing. She's not my representative. She's not even in my state, but it doesn't matter. Because that's the face of America. That's what we see in America right now. endless, empty, fear mongering about whatever BS culture war, manufactured culture war. And that just leads to more fighting over nonsense, less. And I hate to use the word civility, because I'm not like one of these people's like, we need civility in Congress. No, I like it when people get passionate, when they get heated, when they're debating

real substantive policies. I love that. I love to see it. But that's not what we've got in Congress. We've just got a bunch of like theater and like play fighting that sometimes devolves into real physical fighting or touching or in the case of the capital riots, rioting. It's just we're never going to get anything accomplished in this country. If we keep feeding into whatever manufactured culture war narrative, politicians throw at us. We got to reject it.

That's my take on it. All right. We got to get back to the show. When we come back for the second hour, we'll have John Iderola join me to talk about how the nation is really, like really, really struggling with the fact that someone stole 10 stakes from Trader Joe's. Really a big headline that needs to be discussed. So we've got that story and more. Don't miss it. We'll be right back. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work. Listen ad free. Access members, only bonus content, and more. by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at apple.co slash t-y-t. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.