(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)Michelle Obama’s big book tour headed to Tacoma, Washington on March 24th after she was forced to cancel the event last month under the threat of a massive protest. Michelle scrambled to blame the weather after Tacoma stadium workers became angry. Well, one month’s delay didn’t cool down the furious protesters who showed up in force with a list of grievances. Don’t miss this.
Michelle Obama was forced to re-schedule her February 8th book tour stop in Tacoma after the former first lady learned she would be met by angry protesters. Michelle can’t stand any controversy that would taint her image and her close advisers decided to re-schedule the event to March 24th, hoping the protesters would cool down.
Well, that only added fuel to the fire, enraging the Tacoma stadium workers who had been lobbying the 55-year-old Obama. Stadium union labor workers in the Tacoma area were calling on the former first lady to back their dispute with their employers, thinking the Obamas are champions of the working class.
Instead, Michelle is raking in millions with her memoir Becoming and couldn’t be bothered by the peasant union workers. It seems Live Nation, the firm handling the book tour, wanted to cut costs so they hired a labor law-breaking backstage firm, Rhino Staging, for the former First Lady’s appearances in the Pacific Northwest.
“Former President Barack Obama pushed the Affordable Care Act through Congress – over vicious Republican opposition — almost a decade ago,” Local 15 Vice President Bess Sullivan said in a telephone hookup before a pre-picket line press conference on March 22.
“We have been supportive of the Obamas and their policies, especially the ACA,” said Sullivan. That leaves her puzzled why Michelle Obama won’t support the workers, especially in their quest for the union and for health care coverage.
“Our workers need their health care,” Sullivan said. After all, setting up and rigging a stage can be dangerous if there’s a lack of safety harnesses and guardrails. “That’s why we’re appalled Michelle Obama hasn’t replied,” to IATSE’s requests for her to intervene and order her subcontractor to bargain with the union, Sullivan says.
After many attempts by the union stadium workers pleading with Michelle to hold fast to the values she espoused in her memoir and lend them a helping hand, Mrs. Obama couldn’t be bothered. So the union called for a massive protest of her March 24th event which the mainstream media completely ignored.
“Rhino Staging Northwest has personnel policies and operations which are not consistent with the values you have represented throughout your career,” wrote IATSE President Matthew Loeb in a letter to Ms. Obama on Jan. 23.
Mr. Loeb asked Ms. Obama to “consider having a discussion with Live Nation and the Tacoma Dome” to advocate for Rhino workers so that workers would have union representation and fair compensation during her appearance in Tacoma.
The former first lady ignored the labor union. And that pissed them off, calling Michelle out about her so-called Democratic values. “When you take the stage to talk about your journey from Chicago to Washington and your fight for fairness and health care for those who have gone without,” wrote Loeb, “please look backstage as well.”
“Ms. Obama’s book tells the story of growing up in a union household and celebrates the virtues of hard work. But she has turned her back on hard-working backstage workers, including riggers, at the Tacoma Dome who do not receive health care or retirement benefits, have serious safety concerns, and earn substandard wages,” wrote Sheeraz Raza, who is covering this scandal in Tacoma.
Last month Michelle blamed the weather for canceling the February 8th date. The furious union workers saw through the ruse since Obama didn’t cancel her Oregon appearance on Feb. 9th that was just a few hundred miles away and under the threat of the same snowstorm Mrs. Obama blamed.
With the snowstorm on its way into Tacoma, my biggest priority is making sure everyone stays safe—and that’s why we’ve decided to postpone my tour event to March 24th. I can’t wait to see you all next month, and in the meantime, stay warm and be safe out there! https://t.co/wBUU0upihd
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) February 7, 2019
It’s a sad state of affairs. The Obamas pretend to care about the working class, yet, when faced with having to pay a tiny bit more to the union stadium workers over the non-union workers, Michelle shows what she is really all about — making money at any cost.
The former first lady is also so full of crap about “staying true” to her “working class” roots. “[Barack] was raised by grandparents who were working class folks,” Michelle told a crowd in 2008. “And a single mother who struggled to pay the bills, just like we did. When was the last time that Americans could say that their president and first lady were raised in working-class families?”
Angry protesters greeted the former first lady as she arrived at the Tacoma Stadium. But there were no mainstream media sources who cared to cover that aspect of the event. Michelle claims to be from the hard street of Chicago’s southside and loves to tell everyone about her families roots in the working-class and growing up in a union household.
Yet when those working class men needed her to step up, she couldn’t be bothered. We aren’t surprised. But sadly, those workers who always vote for the Democrat have now learned the hard truth about Michelle Obama, and just maybe they won’t be supporting any Democratic candidates in the future.
