Hudson Valley Rally For Workers Rights Energizes The Masses

Almost 1000 people gathered to stand up for the rights of all American workers this past week in Rock Tavern, NY. It was a cold day and it was amazing to see all of the people there. There were men, women and children, there were college students and high school students along with those close to retirement.

Thank you to Pete Seeger for joining with us to sing Solidarity Forever and Which side are you on? The answer to that question was definitely the American worker.

Sometime in the future, the labor movement will look back and realize that Scott Wilson was the catylst this generation needed to energize the existing labor movement and to preserve the American Dream for the future generations of workers.

This movement is growing at an incredible speed. More to come soon...

Ed Was Way Ahead Last Week

Wisconsin Becomes Ground Zero For Workers Rights

Here is an example of what is in store for all American Workers,if they don't wake up and see what is happening to their "dream" and begin to openly support protecting workers rights again.

This is about the American right to collective bargaining. If you think that this is just a public employee issue - you are wrong. If you think it's purely a tax issue - it is not. The monetary requests of the Governor have been agreed to. They agreed to increase pension and health contributions.

This is now PURELY about the right to bargain. They have a Governor who believes that American workers should have no say or seat at the table.

This is something you would read about in China.

These people are now fighting for only that - the right to bargain. This is past paying more for health insurance or pensions - they already agreed on that.......this is an all out assault on American Workers rights - period. It IS political and CORPORATE DRIVEN. With a goal to "trickle down" the attack to the rest of the American Workforce. Don't be fooled, the only way to protect yourself is to band together.

Unions are the only avenue for workers to use to protect their rights and benefits they have worked hard for. No one else does that or is interested in doing that. Doesn't it make sense that corporations would fight their very existence?

That is what is going on in Wisconsin.
And that's an American fight.

Create Good Jobs And This Does Not Happen: Create Nothing And There Is No Where To Go

This issue will be playing out soon in many more states,towns and in many more places. Three things are clear: the budget needs to be cut, jobs and retirements need to be saved and new GOOD jobs need to be created.






The Huffington Post Amanda Terkel

WASHINGTON -- Public employees around the country have become the nation's scapegoats for the rough economy, with many Republican politicians in recent months criticizing them as privileged, overpaid and underworked -- unlike their private sector counterparts. But in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) is now in hot water, facing an overwhelming backlash from the state's residents.

Wisconsin is facing a $137 million budget deficit. In order to close it, Walker wants to sharply curtail the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions, effectively preventing them from negotiating benefits, hours and working conditions. (They would, however, still be able to bargain over base wages, and Walker decided to exempt firefighters and police workers from his measure.) Public workers would also have to contribute more money toward pension and health insurance plans.

What has attracted the most attention is Walker's threat to call out the National Guard in order to respond to a walk-out or any resistance to his plan.

The governor has insisted that he's not targeting public employees.

"I'm just trying to balance my budget," Walker told The New York Times. "To those who say why didn't I negotiate on this? I don't have anything to negotiate with. We don't have anything to give. Like practically every other state in the country, we're broke. And it's time to pay up." The Huffington Post was unable to get a comment from him on Wednesday.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin has said that Walker's plan will save Wisconsin $30 million over the next three months and $300 million over the next two years.

But some questioned whether his proposal is really financially necessary. The governor himself claims that Wisconsin can save $165 million by the end of next June simply by restructuring existing debt. Additionally, the share of corporate tax revenue funding the state government has fallen by half since 1981 and, according to Wisconsin Department of Revenue, two-thirds of corporations pay no taxes.

"I don't think there's any question that what Gov. Walker is trying to do here is not simply outrageous -- one of the worst things I've ever seen a Wisconsin governor do -- but he's just acting on a long-time corporate wish: the fantasy of destroying unions," former Wisconsin Democratic senator Russ Feingold told The Huffington Post in an interview on Tuesday. Feingold is launching a new political action committee called Progressives United, aimed at combating the influence of corporate power in politics.

Calling Walker's actions "big government at its worst," Feingold said that Republicans are trying to pit private workers against their public counterparts.

"This is an attempt to divide and conquer," he added. "What they did is teed up the rhetoric in the last few years about how public employees -- the notion is that somehow they're making huge amounts of money and they don't have to work very hard, and they're doing fine because their jobs and pensions are guaranteed while people in the private sector are suffering. Surely, there is enormous reason for people in the private sector to be frustrated -- and particularly working people who have had their jobs shipped overseas by trade agreements that have been backed by these big corporate interests that are benefiting from Citizens United. But the idea here on the right and the corporate side is to divide working people against each other, to turn private employees against public employees out of some kind of resentment."

Thousands of Wisconsin residents have showed up for rallies in Madison, with hundreds of Wisconsin residents signed up to testify on Tuesday against Walker's plan. Many of them ended up rolling out sleeping bags and sleeping in the building's rotunda overnight. With a GOP legislature on his side, Walker could get a vote as soon as Thursday. On Tuesday, the Republican co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee helped speed along the process by preventing a "citizen filibuster" and limiting the amount of time that residents had to speak, prompting protests from the people who were shut out of hearing without being heard.

Opposition to Walker's proposal has come not only from unions, but also veterans organizations and even the Green Bay Packers.

"As a publicly owned team we wouldn't have been able to win the Super Bowl without the support of our fans," wrote current and former members of the Packers in a statement. "It is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes Wisconsin run. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. But now in an unprecedented political attack Governor Walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work."

There are roughly 175,000 public sector employees with union representation in Wisconsin. Of those, 39,000 are state employees and 106,000 are teachers.

UPDATE, 3:40 p.m.: In an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday, Walker played down the number of protesters. Van Susteren observed that tens of thousands of residents have turned out to protest, saying, "I don't think Madison has seen a protest like that in quite some time." Walker replied, "In the end though, you're still talking about 5.5 million in the state. You're still talking about a couple of hundred thousand state and local government employees. So sure, you're going to have a few riled up about this, there's no doubt about it."

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m.: The AP reports that Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature plan to introduce significant revisions to Walker's bill.

UPDATE, 5:02 p.m.: On Tuesday, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents wrote a letter to Walker expressing concern that his budget would remove UW-Madison from the UW system, which would in turn create unnecessary competition between the colleges:

We do not yet know what you have in mind for the University of Wisconsin System, but it has come to our attention that elements of your proposed 2011-13 biennial budget might remove UW-Madison from the UW System. As leaders of the UW System and long-time Wisconsinites who care deeply about the welfare of all UW campuses, we want to express strong concerns about this significant restructuring, especially without broad consultation and careful deliberation.
A Walker spokesman told the AP that more details will be released in the governor's budget next Tuesday.

UPDATE, 10:42 p.m.: Madison public schools were closed on Wednesday, because a large number of teachers and staff called in sick to protest Walker's bill.

UPDATE, 12/17: Madison public schools are closed for the second straight day, and some Milwaukee schools are also shut down. The University of Wisconsin is preparing for large protests, and on Wednesday, the provost sent out a message to the campus community (via HuffPost reader Thom Q.):

Students, faculty and staff,
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is aware that classes may be disrupted tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 17) as a result of reaction to the budget repair bill.

We value public debate and participation in the political process, however, we do not believe that this should come at the cost of a day of instruction for our student body. We are advising students to attend class, and faculty and staff to teach in the way they normally would. It is the responsibility of instructors to ensure that students' educational opportunities are preserved.

For additional guidance about political activities on campus, information about appropriate use of IT resources, please refer to my message of Monday evening:

If you have questions, please consult with the appropriate supervisor, instructor, or department chair.

Respectfully,

Paul M. DeLuca Jr.

Online Organizing Key to Workers’ IBEW Win

by Mike Hall, Jan 4, 2011 AFL-CIO News

When workers decide they want to come together and form unions, it’s a well-documented fact that management is none too happy about it.

Talk with your fellow workers in the lunchroom, speak out at a forced, closed-door meeting with the boss, or—heaven forbid—wear a pro-union shirt, hat or sticker and you’re sporting a bull’s-eye for retaliation. In more than one-third of organizing campaigns, pro-union workers are fired.

In Newburgh, N.Y., last spring, workers at an Anheuser–Busch InBev’s Metal Container Corp. plant—where a previous organizing attempt drew intense management harassment and the firings of some workers—employees reached out to Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 363.

But as the IBEW Now News Blog reports:

The fear of captive-audience meetings, harassment and other actions by the employer left many at the plant wary of how to press forward without management sidelining their efforts.

So organizers got crafty and set up a special blog strictly for the 164 employees to debate, strategize, air concerns and ultimately come together for victory, all while avoiding many of the union-busting tactics so common in most campaigns.


IBEW Local 363's Sam Fratto says the blog was like having a “24-hour-a-day union and campaign meeting. Because of their past experience, workers were afraid to talk among themselves on the floor. But this time with the blog, nobody’s jobs were in jeopardy because management couldn’t single out who was for or against the union."

Over the course of the summer, the blog became an online meeting spot for the 164 workers, who knew plant management was monitoring the blog.

We knew they were monitoring the blog and we didn't care. It didn't matter. In fact, we used it to our advantage.

The blog was also being watched from 9 different countries including England, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, China and Japan.

Despite management’s efforts to hone in on pro-union workers, captive-audience meetings couldn’t refute what the workers were reading and commenting about on the blog. Says Fratto:

The company tried to get people to spill info about the campaign, but the workers just stayed silent. And since nobody’s wearing T-shirts or handing out stickers or fliers, who could they put the pressure on? Nobody.

In August, the workers voted overwhelmingly to join IBEW and are now in contract talks. Visit the can plant blog here: www.canplant.blogspot.com

Happy New Year To Everyone!

Happy New Year to the hard working people who make up the shrinking middle class.

Happy New Year to the hard working employers too, the ones who treat their employees fairly.

Happy New Year to all of the people who support labor and understand the vital need for American labor to be organized.

We need to set the standards in the world. We ended 2010 down at number FIVE - not good.

Have a safe and prosperous New Year.

Congratulations To Employees Of Deb-El On Settling Their First Union Contract

The employees of Deb-El, a Sullivan County company that manufactures and processes egg products have unanimously votes yes for a union contract. The 57 employees of the Thompsonville company had to fight a long battle to get that contract because management of Deb-El foods, Inc. did not want them to become unionized.

Workers finally have clear, written rules to follow in regard to their employment with the company.

Prior to having a contract, rules were a one way street - without a contract, an employer can make and change any rule or procedure at will and at any time - without any regard to how it affects the employees. This is very frustrating to workers who have things changed on the fly that can adversely affect them and their families without so much as a discussion.

The contract, approved this week by a unanimous vote of the workers, is a five year pact.

Represented by Local 342 of the United Food and Commercial Workers,the workers have benefits they never had before, said union spokeswoman Kate Meckler.

“It provides for guaranteed wage increases over the course of the contract. It provides for benefits they never had before like real vacation pay and real time off,” she said. They also have access to union funds and access to the 401K and annuity plan, which they never had before, Meckler said.

Congratulations to the Deb-El workers! Now show the company that there was really no need to fight it and prove how a unionized plant can be an advantage for both the workers and the company.

Powerful Speech - Open Your Ears And Your Mind To The Truth

This is a powerful speech that can just stand on its own. This is the 800 pound gorilla in the country. All of this goes on while they have us enthralled with reality shows and Snookie.

It's more like Snookered.

Pass this around for people to see because it is something we never hear or get breaking news on......the truth.

The Cut List Starts At The End Of The Line

Whether you are working or not - you know the economy is a mess. You know jobs are hard to come by. You know there is and has been for a long time, terribly high unemployment.

Congress is debating whether to extend emergency unemployment checks for more than 6 million Americans who are approaching the 99-week limit, some four million others are facing the certain end of their benefits over the next year.

The President's Council of Economic Advisers said "the exhaustion of unemployment benefits for so many will curb spending power enough to significantly impede an already weak economic recovery."

The typical household would see their income fall by a third should they lose their checks, according to the report. For the sole breadwinner, income would fall by 90 percent.

Multiply that number by 4 million and climbing for those who would have nothing. That is not a good situation for anyone.

Say what you want about lazy people and pulling yourself up - easy for you to say if you are one of the employed. The fact is that there are not 4 million jobs for those curently unemployed and we all know it's getting worse.

These are not the people you fear that DO NOT WORK. These are people that are very unfortunately BETWEEN WORK that are the subjects here. This is not about LAZY.

And here is a news flash: If they keep letting companies go offshore, taking our jobs with them and coming back here to sell it all back to us at nice high inflated American prices - the job mess will continue....and it will infect and affect everybody - working or not.

To think of letting our countrys people whither away and at the same time give out financial support to other coutries and THEIR people is mindboggling.

If we really can't afford to take care of someone - shouldn't AMERICANS be the last on the cut list?

The unemployment benefits need to be there for these Amercican Workers who are STUCK BETWEEN jobs.

The cut list starts on the other end of the line.

Poll: Majority of Americans Say Health Care Law Should Stand or be Expanded

Fifty-one percent of registered voters say that Congress should let the new health care reform law continue as is or change it so that it does more, according to a McClatchy/Marist Institute poll conducted Nov. 11-15. Thirty-three percent want to repeal it completely, 11 percent want it changed so that it is less sweeping and 5 percent are undecided.

Among those who support the legislation, 16 percent are in the "let it stand" camp while 35 percent believe it should be changed to do more.

You wouldn't think that was the case by reading the papers, watching TV or listening to the radio - they made it seem that everybody thought it was a bad idea.

I often wondered, what part of the law don't the middleclass people like?

Is it that insurance companies cannot drop you or refuse you coverage for pre-existing illnesses? Do they not like that?

Is it that now your insurance covers your children up to the age of 26 if they do not have access to insurance?

Or do the middleclass people not like that their lifetime medical expenses CANNOT have a cap or maximum anymore?

The Republican congressional leadership included a vow to repeal health care in its pre-election "Pledge to America".

Many GOP candidates ran on a promise to work towards scrapping what they dubbed "Obamacare." Read between the lines folks - it's POLITICAL.

That is in the Pledge To America???
REVERSING THOSE BENEFITS FOR THE MIDDLECLASS?? What the heck else is in there?

No matter what party is in they all pull the same tricks - give a catchy "nice sounding" name to a bill or law that actually screws the middleclass people.

When they do that, a large number of those same middleclass people trust it by the name it's called and end up supporting it. Nice trick that works over and over.

Former Anheuser Busch Workers, Now Known As ABINBEV Vote YES To Join IBEW Local 363

The workers at the ABINBEV Metal Container Corporation in Newburgh have chosen IBEW Local 363 to represent them in collective bargaining.

The workers at the ABINBEV Metal Container Corporation have chosen IBEW Local 363 to represent them in collective bargaining in an election that was held on Friday August 27 and Saturday August 28 by the National Labor Relations Board.

These workers manufacture the cans for Budweiser Beer and other beverage companies affiliated with the company which is now called ABINBEV after the sale of the Anheuser Busch Company to INBEV - a Belgium owned company.

This campaign started approximately 6 months ago and there was a tremendous amount of work put into this effort by countless workers at the plant and by IBEW Local
363.

A group of workers came to IBEW Local 363 in early February and spoke about how much they were losing with the new foriegn owned company. Soon after and through much effort, Local 363 began to increase the number of employees involved and held numerous small meetings with the workers on each shift.

Through their own efforts, the workers themselves brought more than double the amount of authorization cards required by law to file for the election to the union.

At that time, Senior Assistant Business Manager Sam Fratto became involved and suggested that they try a new way to organize the workers throughout the process – by using the electronic media and creating a blog that all of the workers could have access to 24 hours a day. The theory was that the blog would equalize the captive audience meetings and the fact that physical access to the workers was limited. It worked great and is still being used today in this next part of the election / negotiation process. The blog address is www.canplant.blogspot.com.

On Saturday night, August 28 the majority of workers chose to have IBEW Local 363 as their collective bargaining agent.

There was much pressure applied by the company and many veiled threats were levied at the people. This is a solid group of workers who are very proud to become members of the IBEW and especially of Local 363 and they held strong. After the election there were workers who voted no calling the union everyday stating that they would be supporting the union and that they were sorry they voted no because of immense pressure from the company.

They understand the power associated with having a written contract to work under. With the sale of AB, the workers knew they had to take steps of their own to protect themselves and they contacted Local 363 to make that happen. They picked the right union to do that!

There are now 164 NEW IBEW 363 union members in the Hudson Valley because of their courage and effort to band together to join the union and to speak with one voice.

Hopefully, more workers in the Hudson Valley will see that there is a choice available when it seems that everything is being taken from them - call in the IBEW or any other union in the area. Organize.

Now the ABINBEV workers have a voice at the table with the multi-billion dollar company from Belgium that owns the former AB Budweiser Brand.

Happy Labor Day To All Union Members And Their Families!

Happy Labor Day to all union members and their families. Here is a short Labor History lesson for your use:

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

Labor Day Warm Up - Here's To The Workers

Schools In: Warming Up For labor Day

Kingston Nurses Looking To Unionize

The Registered Nurses at Kingston Hospital want union representation!

They have asked the New York State Nurses Association to file a petition for election with the National Labor Relations Board. The union also represents RNs at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.

The Nurses Association represents the registered nurses at Benedictine Hospital. They have helped the nurses with such issues as health care benefits, binding arbitration to resolve grievances, and negotiated layoff and seniority provisions.

Union elections are up in the area with union wins increasing at a rapid pace.

In this time of uncertainty, workers are beginning to realiize that without a written contract, nothing "they have" with the employer has any legal standing. To ensure that workers keep what they have they can seek out union representation and negotiate for a written contract in their workplace.

Good luck Kingston Hospital Registered Nurses!

There's Organizing Going On In The Hudson Valley

Contractors and manufacturing employees are contacting union offices more than they have in a decade. With job security at such a low point people are not as concerned as they were about attempting to form a union. And with no job security to offer on the other end, the contractors are looking for a ready made workforce that can be ready at the drop of a hat and that they can discard just as fast.

Even though many companies do not want their workforce to have a union, it gives the workers power, there is nothing wrong or illegal about wanting a union or joining a union. In fact, it is an American right that is guaranteed by Federal Law. Did you know that the policy of the United States has written into it that the policy of the United States of America is to ENCOURAGE collective bargaining?
m
There are more than a couple of major organizing campaigns going on in the Hudson Valley this summer.. The union involved doesn't want to go public but said that we can mention to the people that there is movement in the movement. I hear there are more to come. That is good news. People are much better off working under a contract than without. Fair contracts work, Fair to both parties. Then it always will work and you can work together as partners.

When we can we will give some more info. It will have to go public soon just by word of mouth.

Happy Fourth of July To All American Workers

Happy Fourth of July to everyone who works for a living, union or non union. We live in the greatest country in the world where we can say what we wish and do whatever we want to do.

We have rights in this country that do not exist in most countries. We should cherish those rights and exercise them as we feel the need.

No American should ever be be intimidated or threatened in retaliation for defending those rights.

Happy Independence Day!

Sottile: Contract Law Be Damned

Mayor James Sottile has made a deal to have a private hauler pick up recyclables at the curb for 700 homes free of charge in a test run aimed at privatizing the service in the city.

The Civil Service Employees Association, the union representing the majority of city workers opposes the mayor’s plan.

County Waste & Recycling Service of Clifton Park will begin on Aug. 1.

At present, city residents must put out recyclables in separate containers AND THE CITY WORKERS PICK IT ALL UP UNDER THEIR CONTRACT.

Sottile said city workers freed up from collecting recyclables would be able to do other jobs, like collecting yard waste at the curb. He also said the city would use less fuel, and cut its truck maintenance costs.

The mayor said no employees would be laid off as a result of the move.

Troy Ashdown, a shop steward for the Civil Service Employees Association, promises that the union will file a grievance over the matter.

Under its contract with the union, Ashdown said, the city is not allowed to use other workers to do jobs that had been performed by employees who had been laid off in the Department of Public Works, unless the laid-off workers are paid.

“You can’t downsize your workforce and then privatize it or bring in cheap labor without benefits,” said Ashdown, who added that the provisions are spelled out in a contract agreed to by Sottile and the Common Council.

“The CSEA doesn’t run the day-to-day operations of the city, the administration does,” was Sottiles response.

Contract Law will decide this issue. Even a non-expert can agree that when you are a party to a contract - you cannot unilaterally change it - it doesn't work that way.

Alderman Charles Landi, D-Ward 3, said of Civil Service Employees Union “What goes around comes around,” and “This could be the tip of the privatization iceberg.”

Ashdown responded by saying the union is looking forward “to seeing Mr. Landi in court.”

The City of Kingston should either fire their attorney who is giving this mayor contract administration advice or spend the money to send Sottile to a class on contract law himself because this one is a loser for the mayor and his fellow anti-union blowhard and big mouth, Landi.

Contractors Caught Paying Off The Books And Deducting No Taxes On Job Built Using NYS Money

Remember when the local construction unions were told that their contractors were NOT competitive enough with their bids to build the new Orange Regional Medical Center hospital?

Well, well, look at this one.

No wonder why legitimate union contractors prices were rejected as being too "HIGH".

The New York State Department of Labor has heavily fined THREE NON-UNION CONTRACTORS at the Orange Regional Medical Center for paying workers off the books, not paying them overtime and illegally deducting money from their paychecks.

Not to mention they brought in Out of State Workers to do it.

The Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it fined the three companies a total of $265,207. The workers were robbed of $118,000 in wages and illegal deductions from what little pay they did get.

It all seems pretty clear now who were the good guys, who were the bad guys in the construction of this hospital.

The ones working and building the hospital didn't pay their taxes on their pay and yet the unemployed locals paid the tax on their unemployment checks.

Thanks Orange Regional Medical Hospital for all you have done to and for our local LEGITIMATE CONTRACTORS AND WORKERS.

And thanks for showing the entire Hudson Valley and the union workers why you cannot believe the spin put on the "sin" of making a prevailing wage or that it is bad for business.

We will forever use the Orange Regional Medical Center as an example of how many contractors in the construction business submit that "lowest bid".

Thank you Thank you Thank you

Where's The Beef?

Speaking of jobs - how many economic development people do we have employed in the public sector in the Hudson Valley?

Remember how hard some of them fought the local construction workers when they begged for local jobs for local people? We do!

Or what about how hard some of them fought against even bringing up the subject of a liveable wage for local people in the jobs that could be created?

Don't get lulled to sleep because that has not changed.

Everybody talks jobs jobs jobs. All the big shots want their name in the paper for the announcement - but when it comes to actually discussing the kind of jobs or an actual number - forget it !

They can't be more clear with their motto on that-

"Don't ask and don't tell"

Here is a hint to all - That is no longer going to be acceptable.

So for starters, drop the cocktails, fingerfoods and drinks and give us the "solar details".