Teamsters Applaud Judge's Ruling to Continue Pipeline Construction

[ABFwife]

I am reading so many different things about this on my FB news feed I cannot keep up. I read last night that Obama had stopped the pipeline somehow. I also read that the Sioux tribe had many opportunities as well as the general public, to attend meetings to stop the pipeline and they did not attend (before it was built). Who knows.

(WASHINGTON) – The Teamsters Union is pleased with a ruling today by U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg that will allow for the continued construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Judge Boasberg ruled against an injunction filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to halt the pipeline project that is currently under construction in North Dakota. The Dakota Access pipeline was lawfully approved by four states, including North Dakota, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers. All supporters and opponents of the project had the equal right to voice their opinions on the project and engage in a civil debate regarding the merits of the pipeline, including in three public hearings held throughout the state.

https://teamster.org/news/2016/09/te...e-construction

[ABFwife]

Me being a liberal in some ways, especially when it comes to labor, there are some good points made in this article but I think it is fair to saythis was not written by a Democrat or a pro labor person for that matter!

The Dakota Access Pipeline protests received a big media boost when Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein managed to earn herself an arrest warrant after vandalizing some construction equipment. Liberals love a good protest if it involves any sort of environmental activism and such gatherings are sure to draw the usual crowd of Gaia worshipers. But that’s only one slice of the Democratic pie, and they run in very different social circles from the labor unions which fund the election efforts of most Democrats. This week these two groups came into direct conflict as the AFL-CIO came out in support of the pipeline and all the jobs it will create, even as the environmentalists insisted that it must be shut down. (Washington Free Beacon)

This is yet another example of how the national coalition of Democratic voters is a patchwork affair which brings in people with very different interests which don’t always align. The labor unions are all about jobs. (Mind you, they’re not always about the workers, but rather the number of people who are enlisted to pay dues.) Trumka recognizes that this pipeline represents thousands of high paying jobs which will last for years. At some point you have to set aside the talking points of political activists and get down to business.

Dakota pipeline divides unions from liberal activists - Hot Air Hot Air

[ABFwife]

Teamsters, unions question Dakota Access reconsideration

The Obama administration’s decision to withdraw and reconsider permits it issued for the proposed Dakota Access crude oil pipeline raises serious questions about the future of building US systems and the livelihoods of the project’s construction workers, general presidents of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and four other labor unions said (OGJ Online, Sept. 12, 2016).

“The project is being built with an all-union workforce and workers are earning family-sustaining wages, with family health care and retirement contributions,” they said in an Oct. 3 letter to US President Barack Obama. “However, the project delays are already putting members out of work and causing hardships for thousands of families.”

The Sept. 9 decision to withdraw a US Army Corps of Engineers permit for a portion of the proposed 1,172-mile, 30-in. pipeline that would connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Ill., came months after the project won final state and federal approvals after more than 4 years of state and federal reviews, the letter said.

It said the withdrawal and reconsideration decision also came hours after Judge James F. Boasberg of US District Court for the District of Columbia denied a request for a preliminary injunction by the Standing Rock Sioux Indian tribe and other opponents who argued that consultations had not been adequate.

http://www.ogj.com/articles/2016/10/...ideration.html