It’s no secret that Meg Whitman is wealthy beyond most of our wildest dreams. But few know the true cost of Whitman’s wealth. Today, the California Labor Federation launched a new online video and video game that highlights Whitman’s job-slashing corporate history.

Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski:

Meg Whitman has made a game of downsizing workers and outsourcing their jobs, and walking away with a very real fortune for herself in the process. The record shows that Whitman is a one-person weapon of mass job destruction. By attempting to buy the California Governor’s Office, Whitman wants to take her game to the next level, but we can’t forget there are real lives at stake with every jobs she cuts, outsources or downsizes.

While Whitman touts her business savvy as her primary qualification to become governor, a closer look at Whitman’s corporate background reveals a troubling portrait of someone who got rich at the expense of her own employees. Whitman is a career corporate executive who built a personal fortune by eliminating and outsourcing jobs and slashing workers’ benefits. Everywhere she’s been, she’s made out with lucrative bonuses, stock options and other compensation. And workers have suffered hardships as a result.

EDIT by Brian: Check out the flip for more…

Whitman’s pattern of mass job destruction is clear:

   * While Whitman served as an executive at Stride Rite from 1992-1995, the company closed two manufacturing plants in Massachusetts and fired 450 workers — and Whitman collected $568,000 in compensation and stock options. The Wall Street Journal reported that during and prior to Whitman’s tenure, the company closed 15 US plants, moving manufacturing to “low-cost Asian countries.” During Whitman’s time at Stride Rite, the company cut its unionized workforce by half.

   * While Whitman served as president and CEO of Florist Transworld Delivery (FTD) from 1995-1997, the company eliminated 475 jobs and gutted retirement benefits for workers — and Whitman collected $1.2 million in compensation and stock options.

   * While Whitman served as an executive at Hasbro from 1997-1998, the company cut the workforce by 23%, laid off 500 U.S. workers and sent manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

   * While Whitman served on the board of directors at Gap Inc from 2003-2006, the company closed down a distribution facility in Maryland, outsourced dozens of merchandising jobs and fired 100 tech workers in California.

   * While Whitman was CEO of eBay(1998-2007), the number of overseas workers at the company increased by 666%. By 2007, nearly 40% of eBay’s jobs were outsourced. Whitman also ordered layoffs during her tenure, claiming that the company had “fat that could be trimmed.” By 2008, the company had laid off more than 10% of its workforce. Under Whitman, while laying off workers, eBay repeatedly lobbied for increasing H-1B visas to foreign workers, who are often paid less and have fewer rights than workers hired in America. During her time at eBay, Whitman received about $500 million in compensation and stock options and charged the company and its shareholders nearly $3.2 million for the use of a company jet.

   * While serving on the board of directors at Goldman Sachs (2001-2002), where she was on the executive compensation committee, she doled out $79 million in executive bonuses and participated in decision-making on a range of issues relating to the firm. Goldman is now under investigation by the US Department of Justice for its role in the mortgage crisis that led to millions of home foreclosures. While at Goldman, she received more than a half a million dollars in compensation, along with insider access to new hot stocks worth millions, a practice called “spinning,” which is now illegal.

At no point in Whitman’s extensive corporate career did she prove that she could create and sustain good jobs here in the U.S. With a track record like this, we’re left wondering what exactly Whitman has to gain by becoming Governor… and we don’t have to look too far to find the answer. Whitman’s proposal to eliminate the capital gains tax would benefit millionaires and billionaires – taking money away from schools, public safety and programs for the elderly and people with disabilities. And that’s just one in a laundry list of tax breaks, giveaways and sweetheart deals she has in store for California’s biggest companies and wealthiest individuals, without regard for how that loss of revenue would affect our already cash-strapped state.

When you connect the dots of her corporate career, it’s crystal clear her priority has always been profits, at any cost, above people. Based on her proposals for California – like cutting 40,000 state jobs, opposing the job-creating high-speed rail project and scaling back workers’ overtime pay and meal breaks – it’s evident that she would bring the same corporate agenda she’s advocated throughout her career to the governor’s office. That spells disaster for California.

Whitman’s corporate mentality would lead to higher unemployment, lower wages and fewer benefits for workers – in both the public and private sector. In fact, the only group that would benefit from a Whitman governorship is the exclusive club of large corporations and millionaires and billionaires from which she comes.

We cannot afford to let Whitman and her Wall Street agenda run the show in Sacramento. It’s up to us to fight her attempt at a hostile corporate takeover of our state. Learn more, play the game and get involved at www.WallStreetWhitman.com.

Paid for by the California Labor Federation. Not authorized by a candidate or committee controlled by a candidate.

As the editor of Labor’s Edge, I had the unique opportunity to sit down with journalist and author Robert Kuttner at the annual ‘Building Workforce Partnerships’ conference, sponsored by the California Labor Federation’s Workforce and Economic Development Program. Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and a senior fellow at Demos. His latest book is “A Presidency in Peril: The Inside Story of Obama’s Promise, Wall Street’s Power, and the Struggle to Control our Economic Future.”

See the flip

Labor’s Edge: What role do you see unions playing in our nation’s economic recovery?

Robert Kuttner: Let’s look at the 1930s — a period of higher joblessness but also a great time for union growth. It really all depends on how well-informed the workforce is. Some folks who aren’t well-educated look at public employee unions and say, “These folks have it too good.” Other more informed people look at union workers and say, “I want what they have.” It’s up to labor and political leadership to use this recession as an opportunity to educate, mobile and organize workers.

Labor’s Edge: In 2009, you wrote about the White House’s Task Force on Middle Class Working Families. What has the task force accomplished so far, and what still needs to be done?

Robert Kuttner: The task force is a good first step — it has created a new venue where the issues that matter to working families can be raised and addressed. But unfortunately, the task force is understaffed, and the proposed executive order to give contractors extra points for treating their workers well is hung up at Office of Management and Budget. We need the President to prioritize the task force himself (currently it’s being headed up by the Vice President’s program) and make it a top priority, in order to target those large, high profile companies who are low road employers.

Labor’s Edge: In terms of stabilizing the economy and reinvigorating job growth, what has Obama done right, and what still needs to be done?

Robert Kuttner: The stimulus package was a good thing — it helped create a lot of jobs. But it’s not enough; the money will run out soon and the package must be repeated. Right now, I’ll give financial reform a B+ — the bill is getting better as public understands the stakes. For his first few years in office, Obama should have been completely focused on the economy, financial reform and mortgage relief. The health care bill consumed too much time and attention and didn’t go far enough; and it could have waited until Obama’s second term. And the ongoing emphasis on deficit reduction is the wrong approach – it’s only making it harder to get other bills passed, because everyone is scared of increasing the deficit (which is actually a good thing in times of high unemployment).

Labor’s Edge: What exactly would the federal financial reform bill do? Is it enough rein in Wall Street greed?

Robert Kuttner: The Consumer Financial Protection Agency is a very important component of the financial reform package – but it needs to be a free-standing agency. In the Senate version of the bill, the CFPA lies within the Federal Reserve, but in the House version, it’s a committee of regulators, which is what we need. The “Audit the Fed” amendment is good. The derivatives reform component is also pretty good, but it could be better – there are just too many loopholes. The bottom line is that the financial reform bill doesn’t do enough to change the current business model of banks acting like hedge funds, creating exotic assets too confusing for people to understand, and profiting richly at the expense of working people.

Labor’s Edge: What do you think needs to happen to break California out of its perpetual budget woes?

Robert Kuttner: California’s budget is going to be a mess until we get rid of Proposition 13 and the supermajority requirements on budgets and taxes. As long as we have those hurdles in place, our hands will always be tied, even if we had a great Governor. But these rules have fostered a political climate that makes it easy for the Governor to impose his cuts and pit us against each other, playing welfare programs against worker pensions, and so on.

Labor’s Edge: Do you think the anti-Wall Street sentiment will carry over and affect the November election in California, in the event that we end up with two corporate CEOs (Whitman and Fiorina) at the top of the ticket?

Robert Kuttner: Well, you would think so, but I believe we need to make this an issue for it to resonate. Buying your way into public office should be politically radioactive.

Labor’s Edge: What does the BP oil spill mean for the future of the green economy?

Robert Kuttner: If there’s one thing that this oil catastrophe has demonstrated, it’s that we absolutely cannot trust the oil companies to regulate themselves and control our energy policy. We need real regulation to save them from their own greed. But there’s more to it. We can’t rely on oil in the long-term; we must shift to a cleaner, greener economy, which would benefit the workforce, environment and trade. If ever there was an impetus for the Obama Administration to make this move, the oil spill is it.

Rebecca Greenberg is communications organizer at the California Labor Federation, which represents more than 2 million workers in 1,200 unions across the state.

Finally, there’s a budget proposal worth fighting for, and it couldn’t have come at a more critical time.

On Tuesday, Assembly Democrats, led by new Speaker of the Assembly John Pérez, proposed an innovative budget plan, that closes the nearly $18 billion budget gap while focusing on jobs, as an alternative to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s job killing, all-cuts budget.  

This proposal takes the economic high road by saving hundreds of thousands of jobs for teachers, police, firefighters and other workers, and creating jobs in the private sector that will spur economic growth and new revenues for the state without raising taxes on working families.

Speaker Pérez:

California has to produce a budget that promotes job creation and makes economic sense. We shouldn’t make budget decisions that cut jobs and short-change our overall recovery and long-term growth. The California Jobs Budget will protect and create 465,000 jobs in the private sector and local communities, while also protecting funding for schools, public safety, and a basic safety net.

The proposal would ease California through the worst budget deficit of a generation.  It protects working families from devastating cuts in service like home care and child care, and saves jobs for teachers, police, firefighters and others who provide vital services at the state and local levels.  It proposes only half of the Governor’s fee increase for UC and CSU students, and rejects his proposed $4.3 billion cut in education.  

This package would mitigate deep budget cuts by choosing working families over Big Oil and large multinational corporations.  A new oil severance fee will help fund a private sector job creation program.  And delaying unnecessary corporate tax breaks will save $2 billion that can be invested in job creation, child care, health care, and job services for the working poor.  

The Speaker’s office detailed the proposal in a release yesterday:

The California Jobs Budget closes the state’s $17.9 billion General Fund shortfall and ends the year with a $1 billion final reserve. The centerpiece of the California Jobs Budget is a $10.1 billion Jobs and Economic Stability Fund that will protect against the loss of 430,000 private sector, local community and school jobs in the Governor’s May Budget Revision, and which will also generate tens of thousands of new jobs.  The California Jobs Budget provides $1.5 billion for targeted Jobs Initiatives, repays debts to local governments and schools to avoid massive local government layoffs, and maintains critical employment services and training programs that get people back to work and keep them on payrolls and off government aid.

Predictably, Republicans and the Governor are already attacking the proposal in an effort to try to score some cheap political points as they enter negotiations.

Assembly Budget Chair Bob Blumenfield (D- San Fernando Valley) responded to those attacks yesterday:

The California Jobs Budget protects the private sector job growth we’ve begun to see and it prevents massive layoffs of teachers and cops.  Assembly Republican Leader Martin Garrick is saying he’d rather kill 430,000 jobs in a time of record unemployment than have California join other states in charging oil companies a fee for the oil they take, a fee that experts agree won’t impact consumers.  The irresponsible rejection of jobs and federal funds Mr. Garrick’s position represents is not what Californians want – and it’s not what California’s economic recovery needs.

By unleashing their attack machine without even considering the merits of this proposal and its potential benefits to our economy and middle class, Republicans have once again shown they aren’t interested in meaningful solutions to the budget crisis that will actually get our economy back on track. Instead, the Governor and his Republican allies continue their scorched earth campaign that would eviscerate the state as we know it. We simply can’t let them win. Not this time.  

As progressives and advocates for working families, this is the proposal we’ve been waiting for. And this is precisely the kind of proposal the people of California want. Recent polls show that Californians are seeking a fair budget solution that won’t destroy what we value most: education, public safety, our safety net and other important programs. The Assembly Democrats have stepped up to offer a budget that delivers.

This proposal is a bold and creative step forward that, frankly, we haven’t seen in prior budget fights. But it can’t pass on its own. We need to fight for it. It’s time for everyone who cares about our state’s future to rally around this proposal so that we can achieve where the Governor has repeatedly failed: delivering a budget that protects jobs, education the safety net and finally puts California on the road to economic recovery.

Angie Wei is legislative director at the California Labor Federation, which represents 2.1 million workers in 1,200 unions across the state.

 

It’s no secret that Meg “Wall Street” Whitman served on the board of directors at Goldman Sachs at the same time that the notorious banking giant was engaging in some questionable (and now illegal) business practices. But Whitman hasn’t exactly been open and honest about her direct involvement in the mortgage-backed securities and other shady insider deals that resulted in half a million families losing their homes.

Now that the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into Goldman’s role in the subprime mortgage meltdown, it’s more important than ever that Whitman disclose exactly what she knew and did during her 14 months on the Goldman Sachs board. That’s why we’re calling on Whitman to provide detailed answers to the following questions (which are central to growing concerns about her fitness to lead our state) during this Sunday’s GOP gubernatorial debate:

  1. Will you admit that Goldman Sachs was wrong to bet that hard-working people would lose their houses, at the same time the company was stacking the deck so innocent families were sure to lose?  Will you publicly rebuke Goldman and the Wall Street culture you were a part of — the same company and culture that made you a billionaire?

  2. Knowing Goldman’s unethical — and potentially criminal – activities drove the mortgage meltdown, will you apologize to the half million California families who lost their homes for your role as a Goldman director and investor who profited from their losses?

  3. California voters deserve to know what kind of judgment you would display as Governor.  Will you come clean with voters right now about what you knew about Goldman’s unethical dealings and when you knew it?

  4. If you are named in a federal criminal investigation or asked to testify publicly about your knowledge of Goldman’s illegal tricks or your profits from the company’s scams, how will you remain focused on California’s concerns over their jobs, education, and health care?

According to Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski:

The hot water Meg Whitman’s in due to her inextricable ties to Goldman Sachs just hit the boiling point. The people of California deserve the honest truth about Whitman’s involvement in the practices that are being investigated as part of the current criminal probe against Goldman Sachs. Whitman must immediately disclose all dealings with Goldman Sachs – past and present – and divulge any information she has about the alleged criminal activity under investigation.

Whitman sat on the board of Goldman Sachs in 2001-2002, was engaged in now-illegal insider deals with Goldman Sachs that netted her nearly $2 million in profits, and currently holds a myriad of investments with Goldman worth millions of dollars. Whitman has repeatedly dodged tough questions about her involvement with Goldman, and recently has attempted to distance herself publicly from the firm.

For more information about Whitman’s shady past with Goldman Sachs, visit www.WallStreetWhitman.com

Steve Smith is communications director of the California Labor Federation, which represents 2.1 million workers in 1,200 unions across the state.

Paid for by the California Labor Federation. Not authorized by a candidate or committee controlled by a candidate.

Meg Whitman spent last week crisscrossing California with her Wall Street pal Mitt Romney, pumping up her already overflowing campaign coffers with even more corporate cash. Her campaign strategy is clear: write big checks and avoid a real conversation with voters about her background, her policies, and her plans for the state.

But California’s workers aren’t going to let Meg and her Wall Street agenda take the express jet to the Governor’s office. While Meg and Mitt were rubbing elbows with the corporate elite, an army of nurses, educators, construction trades workers, and others who would be directly impacted by Meg’s anti-worker agenda were putting the final touches on our campaign to expose her plans to do Wall Street’s bidding and what her Governorship would mean for California’s families.

Today, the California Labor Federation launched a massive grassroots campaign massive grassroots campaign that will deploy an army of volunteers to expose the truth about Meg Whitman’s Wall Street agenda and her history on the board at Goldman Sachs. The campaign will counter Whitman’s avalanche of TV ads and estimated $150 war chest with online tools as well as and person-to-person contact, which is proven to be the best way to reach voters.

The brand-new website www.WallStreetWhitman.com will bring the pieces of the grassroots campaign together online. Serving as a one-stop information hub that exposes the truth of Whitman’s Wall Street agenda for California, www.WallStreetWhitman.com will also enable worker activists to engage others in the campaign through extensive use of email and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.

Union voters represent about 1 out of every 5 voters who will go to the polls on Election Day, and many millions more share the same concerns about what Meg Whitman’s agenda will mean for their families. Our plans to reach millions of member voters and deploy tens of thousands of volunteers to speak to their like-minded friends, neighbors, and co-workers will be critical to defeating Meg Whitman’s agenda, which includes plans to fire 40,000 public employees, roll back critical consumer protections that protect our healthcare, and take away worker’s rights, to name a few.

Meg Whitman’s wants to corporatize and downsize the California economy, which will be disastrous for everyone who works hard for a living in California – whether they are union members or not, whether they work in the public sector or the private sector. While Meg’s campaign is fueled by her allegiance to Goldman Sachs and the Wall Street culture that destroyed our economy, our campaign is powered with the passion of tens of thousands of workers who are determined to build better lives for themselves and their children.

We’re ready to spend from today through Election Day getting out the truth about Whitman’s record and letting voters know exactly where she stands on the issues they care about, including jobs, health care, education, and workers’ rights. Join us at www.WallStreetWhitman.com.

Steve Smith is communications director at the California Labor Federation, which represents 2.1 million workers in 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions across the state.

Paid for by the California Labor Federation. Not authorized by a candidate or committee controlled by a candidate.

In this election, working people don’t have a choice. We have an imperative.

Jerry Brown has spent a lifetime fighting for working families. Meg Whitman, on the other hand, has spent her adult life as one of the corporate elite, advancing Wall Street’s disastrous agenda. Whitman’s plan to corporatize our economy would lead to more devastating cuts to education, health care and the safety net. She’d cut tens of thousands of jobs, making an already severe recession much worse. She’d strip workers of important protections like meal breaks and overtime pay.

More than 500 union members and leaders from across the state gathered in San Jose this morning committing to reject Whitman’s hostile takeover attempt of California and elect a proven, experienced leader and fighter for working families, Jerry Brown.

The California Labor Federation today endorsed Attorney General Brown in his bid to become Governor, kicking off Labor’s broadest grassroots electoral campaign in California history.

A glimpse at Brown’s record shows why he’s the right person to renew California’s promise and rebuild our middle class. During his nearly four decades of public service, he has compiled an impressive record in support of working families’ priorities. Brown fought to:

Protect and improve our wages. As Governor, Brown strengthened the state’s equal pay law (SB 1051, 1976), and signed a law that requires the University of California to pay prevailing wage on construction projects (SB 394, 1975).

Ensure a safe and healthy workplace. In 1980, Brown signed a groundbreaking law (SB 1874) that requires employers to provide information to workers on toxic substances produced or handled in their workplace.

Strengthen the safety net for laid off and injured workers. During his 8 years as governor, Brown increased unemployment benefits for laid off workers (AB 91, 1975), and signed several bills to extend and increase workers’ compensation for those who were injured on the job (SB 469, 1975; AB 467, 1976; AB 3028, 1978).

Expand and defend our right to form and join unions. Under Brown’s leadership, California established collective bargaining rights for teachers, school employees and other state workers (SB 160, 1975), firefighters, police and other local government workers (AB 644, 1978) and farm workers (SB 1, 1975). Additionally, Brown signed a law that prohibits the use of professional strikebreakers in labor disputes (SB 719, 1975). Today, more than a million Californians can bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions thanks to Jerry Brown.

Crack down on employers that don’t play by the rules. As Attorney General, Jerry Brown has take legal action against a number of companies that exploit and abuse their workers and violate California’s labor laws. Just this month, Brown secured a settlement for construction workers whose rights have been violated by their employer (CA v. Evleth Construction, 4/5/2010). He’s never shied away from a fight, even when the odds were against him.

In short, Jerry Brown did more than any governor in California history to build the middle class.

He also knows a thing or two about creating jobs. Unlike Meg’s unrepentant job slashing, Jerry Brown has a record job creating. As Governor, he created 1.9 million jobs for California.

From his time as Governor to his work as Attorney General, Jerry’s been on our side.

Jerry Brown’s life of public service has been about fighting for a fair deal —

Not CEO deals;

Not multinational corporations;

Not the wealthy and privileged.

Jerry fights now for a new generation of prosperity, a new chapter for California -A chapter in which everyone has the right to earn their own way, to a safe workplace, a healthy environment, and good health care.

Meg Whitman is trying to buy the Governor’s office to corporatize our economy, to give more power and wealth to the already wealthy and powerful.

Jerry Brown fights to restore for us the California that we knew – when he led it – a California that is unsurpassed in its potential for the future. A California that works for its working people.

He shares our values. He’s on our side. We need a leader in Sacramento who we trust, not another corporate crony to do Wall Street’s bidding. The contrast between the two candidates couldn’t be starker. And there’s never been more on the line for California’s families than there is this year.

Jerry Brown is leading a new fight for our better future. Now it’s time for us to fight for him.

Art Pulaski is executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, representing 2.1 million union members in over 1,200 unions across the state. For more information, visit www.CaliforniaLabor.org.