All posts by carldavidson

labor, trade unions

A ‘Street Heat’ Lesson from Italy

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Italians Launch General Strike against Austerity

BBC New, Sept 6, 2011

Millions of Italian trade union members are thought to be taking part in a day-long strike against the government’s latest austerity measures.

Flights have been cancelled, trains and buses are stationary, and government offices have been shut across Italy.

The government has faced criticism over a 45bn-euro (£40bn) austerity package, and has been scrambling to revise it.

"This is a plan the country doesn’t deserve," said CGIL union leader Susanna Camusso, marching through Rome.

CGIL, which called the general strike, is Italy’s largest union federation.

It is demanding stronger action against tax dodgers and continuing job protection.

Continue reading A ‘Street Heat’ Lesson from Italy →

Environment, Marcellus Shale

What Happens When You Have the Best State Officials Money Can Buy

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Marcellus Skeptics Form Own Shale Commission

By Anya Litvak

Pittsburgh Business Times

Aug 29, 2011 – Disappointed with the work of Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, a group of organizations that have aimed to temper natural gas development in the state, has formed its own panel: The Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission.

And they’re taking it on the road, with the first public hearing scheduled for Wednesday evening at South Fayette Middle School, which lies smack in the center a lawsuit filed by Range Resources (NYSE: RRC). Range is claiming the township effectively zoned natural gas drilling out of its borders.

The other four commission meetings scheduled to take place in the next three weeks will be in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, with a concluding report to follow in early October.

The commission is made up of:

  • Thomas Au, Conservation Chair, Pennsylvania Chapter, Sierra Club
  • Lynda Farrell, Pipeline Safety Coalition
  • Greg Grabowitz, Environmental Chair, Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited
  • Barb Jarmoska, Responsible Drilling Alliance
  • Anne Leisure, PA Providers Assocition
  • Rebecca McNichol, CLEAR Coalition
  • Roy Newsome Jr., Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
  • James Schmid, Environmental Engineer
  • John Stolz, Duquesne University
  • Marybeth Sweeney/Roberta Winters: League of Women Voters
  • Ritchie Tabachnick, Equipment and Controls Africa
  • John Anthony Trallo, Residents United for Pennsylvania/Sullivan County Chapter
  • Maya van Rossum, Delaware Riverkeeper
  • Ray Werts: President of the Western Clinton County Sportsman

Continue reading What Happens When You Have the Best State Officials Money Can Buy →

Environment, Marcellus Shale, Organizing

THE TRUE IMPACTS OF FRACKING TO OUR COMMUNITY

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A COMMUNITY PRESENTATION

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17TH at 7:00 PM

CHIPPEWA EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH

239 BRAUN ROAD, BEAVER FALLS, PA 15010


Carolyn Knapp and Carol French own working dairy farms in Bradford County, PA. Both have signed gas leases for their property and have experienced the impacts of heavy drilling activity in their community. They have devoted large amounts of time learning about the hydraulic fracturing process and the overall impact it has on the community. They will provide a perspective on fracking that is not being provided by the gas companies. Questions will be taken after their presentation.


Visit www.southbeaverfracking.com for more information or contact Rich Barger -  barger105@comcast.net



Chippewa Evangelical Free Church is not a sponsor and does not endorse the speakers for this event.  Chippewa Evangelical Free Church maintains neutrality on the issue of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling.  CEFC is only providing a meeting place and is neither for nor against gas drilling.

2012 Election, Democrats, labor

Tension Growing Between Labor and Top Dems

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Some Unions to Skip 2012 Democratic Convention

By SAM HANANEL
Associated Press

Aug 12, 2011 – WASHINGTON (AP) — About a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because they’re angry that it’s being held in a right-to-work state and frustrated that Democrats haven’t done enough to create jobs.

The move could pose a larger problem for President Barack Obama next year if an increasingly dispirited base of labor activists becomes so discouraged that it doesn’t get the rank-and-file to the polls in the usual strong numbers.

The unions — all part of the AFL-CIO’s building and construction trades unit — told party officials this week they are gravely disappointed that labor was not consulted before Democrats settled on Charlotte, N.C., where there are no unionized hotels.

"We find it troubling that the party so closely associated with basic human rights would choose a state with the lowest unionization rate in the country due to regressive policies aimed at diluting the power of workers," Mark Ayers, president of the building trades unit, wrote in a letter to Democratic Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Continue reading Tension Growing Between Labor and Top Dems →

Community, Culture, Organizing, safety net, trade unions

‘My City of Ruins’ from Bruce Springsteen, Telling It Like It Is…Pass it on!

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It’s time for a Main Street Contract for the American People. National Nurses United has embarked on a campaign to reverse national priorities and policies that have placed the interests of Wall Street over the crisis facing American families today. The goal is to chart a new contract for the American people — for a better life today and a more secure future for our children and future generations. www.mainstreetcontract.org

labor, trade unions

Solidarity with the CWA/IBEW Strikers!

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Local CWA Union Rep Angered by Verizon Claims

By Megan J. Miller
Timesonline.com

August 8, 2011 – BEAVER — A local representative of the Communication Workers of America union said Verizon workers were forced to go on strike after the communications giant “put outrageous demands” on them in contract negotiations.

Thousands of Verizon landline employees across several states were striking Monday after talks broke down between the company and the workers’ unions, the CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Michael Rossi, president of the CWA chapter that includes about 250 workers in Beaver County, as well as the Sewickley area and parts of Lawrence and Mercer counties, told The Times that he was angered by a statement released by the company that accused the unions of walking away from the table “instead of continuing to work through the issues.”

The company’s demands include freezing pensions and requiring workers to contribute more to their health insurance premiums, above the 7 percent that Rossi said they now pay.

The proposed changes in benefits over time and holiday pay would cost union members approximately $20,000 per year, he estimated.

“(Verizon) made over $20 billion over the last 4 years,” Rossi said, categorizing the company’s demands as “another attack on the middle class.”

Verizon, for its part, pointed out that its landline business has significantly declined as wireless usage grows and said in a news release that its contract terms reflect “today’s economic realities in our wireline business.”

Community, Culture, unemployment, Violence

‘City of Steel’ by Jasiri X, Our Own Rapper

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By Jasiri X and Paradise Gray

According to the New Pittsburgh Courier, “The average homicide victim in 2010 was a 33–year-old Black male with four prior arrests, most likely shot on the North Side, in the Hill District or the East End with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol in the early morning hours of a Saturday in July. The average shooter was a 29-year-old Black male with four prior arrests. The motive was likely retaliation. And according to the clearance-rate data, there is a 46 percent chance that he is still at large.”

This is why we decided to dedicate our latest video to the problem of violence in our community.

“City of Steel” was filmed on Pittsburgh’s Northside at, Northview Heights housing project, Allegheny County General Hospital, Zone No.1 Police Station, Union Dale Cemetery, and the newly reopened state prison, SCI Pittsburgh.

“City of Steel” was produced by Rel!g!on and directed by Paradise Gray.

This is the third video, in the four video series entitled “The Pittsburgh Press”, which was made possible by a generous Seed Award from the Sprout Fund.

LYRICS

Continue reading ‘City of Steel’ by Jasiri X, Our Own Rapper →

Community, trade unions

Beaver Bus Drivers Remain on the Job after Strike Vote

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By Moriah Balingit

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Aug 8, 2011 – Drivers, mechanics and service workers with the Beaver County Transit Authority voted to strike Sunday shortly after overwhelmingly rejecting a proposed contract that they felt did not sufficiently address their issues with forced overtime.

The 50 or so workers, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1743, will not walk out on the job until they get authorization from the union’s international heads and then will face a waiting period, said Local 1743 President Diane Stambaugh.

Ms. Stambaugh said the Beaver Authority forces drivers to stay on beyond their scheduled shifts regularly and disciplines them if they refuse. Under the proposed contract, employees would be allowed to refuse two forced overtime shifts, a quarter and would have disciplinary marks removed from their records after 33 months instead of 36 months.

Drivers, she said, "have no life."

"They can’t make plans to do anything," she said.

Employees want more flexibility to refuse overtime and want less stringent penalties when they do, Ms. Stambaugh said, adding that she believes the authority relies too much on forced overtime when it needs to hire more drivers.

"If they would hire more people, we wouldn’t have this [overtime] problem," she said.

The union’s contract expired Dec. 31.

Officials with the Beaver County Transit Authority could not be reached for comment.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11220/1166024-100.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz1UTNhxBNJ