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Paul Valletta, the head of the Cranston fire fighters’ union who is organizing a picket line in front of a Gina Raimondo fundraiser tonight says his members plan to protest every fundraiser Raimondo has until the governor’s race is decided in 2014, he said today.
“When you do something like this to working class people,” Valletta said, “I would hope she would expect this.”
He added, “True Democrats don’t cross picket lines.”
Though, he acknowledged, many will. “I’m sure her millionaire Engage RI donors will cross the line,” he said.
Valletta said this is the first non-House Party-style fundraiser that Raimondo has had that they know about, so it is also the first one they will picket in front of. But he said the treasurer can expect a presence from organized labor at every fundraiser going forward. Like the rest of us, Valletta assumes Raimondo will run for governor in 2014.
He said he expects between 200 and 300 people tonight. Initially it was only supposed to a small group of fire fighters, but he said other union leaders reached out to him after WPRI broke the news earlier this morning.
“It isn’t the money, it’s the way she went about it,” he said. “You haven’t heard one labor person say leave the pensions the way they are. We all said we understand there is a problem let’s come to the table and fix it.”
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Let’s hope this isn’t how negotiations go between President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner as they try to hammer out a deal on the fiscal cliff. Although the real joke is that Democrats could cave in spite of all the negotiating power they have…
Just in case Obama and the Democrats do start feeling bad for Boehner and start thinking of caving in, Robert Reich offers this piece of advice:
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Jose stood in front of a large oil drum dropping pieces of wood onto the glowing embers and hoping his supply of wood would last the night. As the flames began to shoot up the light revealed his forehead, wrinkled with concern and his sad, tired eyes.
The large, callused hands and drawn face told of years of hard labor. The ragged clothes, layered against the cold, and stubble beard betrayed his present hard times.
Blowing into his hands and rubbing them together hard to warm them, he thought to himself, “How did it come to this? And where am I going?”
His thoughts drifted back to the warm, carefree days of his childhood. He smiled as he remembered his parents and the small village in Mexico in which he grew up. How beautiful the world appeared to him in those times. From his parents and grandparents he had learned the secrets of when to plant corn and beans, tomatoes and peppers; how to care for the farm animals; how to tend the grapevines.
As he reflected on those days, he understood how much a part of the earth he was. In a way it was as if he and the earth were one, and this awareness made him feel even closer to God, the Creator.
Then his mind touched that fateful winter day and suddenly his face darkened, his eyebrows knit even tighter together, and anger flashed in his eyes. The pain that shot through him had not lessened after all these years. He was only nine at the time, but he knew even then right from wrong, and what happened on that day was certainly wrong.
A man dressed in a fancy suit and accompanied by two large, armed men had driven up to Jose’s grandfather’s house in a government car and handed him a piece of paper. As his grandfather read the letter his eyes grew larger and rounder. Sensing that something was amiss, the family gathered round, fear gripping all. By the time his grandfather had finished reading his face had become dark red from rage. He turned to the man in the suit and told him to get off his property immediately. In a threatening tone, the man told Jose’s grandfather that he would be back and there was nothing that could be done about it.
When the men had gone, Jose learned that their land was being taken to make room for the expansion of the neighboring coffee plantation. The family “would be fairly compensated for their loss” the notice had said. “How does one fairly compensate’ for another’s livelihood?” Jose thought to himself. They, of course, were given practically nothing. And it seemed as if Jose had been rootless and on the move ever since.
Jose’s parents went first to Matamoros looking for work at one of the factories on the northern border, across from Brownsville, Texas. His father found a job in one of the tanneries. It was dirty work and the fumes made even Jose nauseous, when he waited near the factory for his father after work. The wages were so bad his mother went to work cleaning houses.
There was never enough money for food, even with both parents working. Poverty makes even the most preposterous rumors seem true. Everyone had heard how wealthy people could become, if they just went across the border to the United States. So when Jose turned twelve he left home to find work north of the border.
The sound of the police car’s siren broke into Jose’s reflections. He looked quickly around, frantically searching for an avenue of escape. The vacant lot had buildings on either side and a chain link fence at the back. Debris lay strewn about: old tires, empty bottles, a battered stove. The ground was so hard and desolate that even the weeds had struggled to find a place to grow. Jose’s pulse quieted as the siren’s wail faded into the distance.
Twenty-five years ago, crossing the border was not as difficult nor as dangerous; finding work, though, was. Jose eventually landed in Florida in the midst of orange groves. Here began his twenty-five year odyssey, following the growing season north to south, east to west and back again. He was on a tour of the United States that definitely was not listed in any tourist brochure. It was hard, back-breaking work; work that paid enough to stay, but not enough to leave. Over the years Jose began to see the inequities. He felt demeaned and used, but did not know, at first, how to fight back.
(Editor’s note: This post is part of a serialization of Rev. Bill Sterritt’s 26-page short story recasting the birth of Jesus in modern day America. For more about this project click here. Check back tomorrow for the next installment in the Amicable Nativity Story.)
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Several sponsors, including ecoRI, Full Circle Recycling, Shapiro Enterprises, and Waste Management have already signed on to support the event. In addition to the sponsors there are commitments for exhibits from Big Hanna, Earth Appliance, Vegware,RI Resource RecoveryCorporation, EarthCare Farm, Ecoassets, and the URI Master Composters Program.
The speakers program is going to be very interesting with Gretel Clark, who developed the Hamilton Massachusetts compost collection program, keynoting.
This year there will be a number of workshops on compost related topics including home composting, what restaurants and institutions can do, the science of compost, and how to move the industry forward in Rhode Island. Speakers lined up include Ken Ayars of RIDEM, Mike Merner of Earthcare Farm, Nancy Warner of the Worm Ladies of Charlestown, Paul Frade of PFTrading company, Scott Miller talking about innovations in compost at Johnson & Wales University, Dr Robert Rafka discussing the science of compost, Reinhard Sidor of the URI Master Composters program, a speaker from Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, and Representative Art Handy on the state of compost on Smith Hill. Some of the panels are not fully populated, and if you have appropriate expertise and would like to speak for 15 minutes as part of a 3 person panel, please get in touch with Greg Gerritt.
Sponsorship and exhibition hall opportunities are also still available. Packets on sponsorship and exhibiting can be obtained by emailing Greg Gerritt at environmentcouncil@earthlink.net or calling 401-331-0529.
The conference fee is $25.00 per person, but lunch alone at a place with the culinary reputation of Johnson & Wales ought to be worth the price. Come join us on February 8 in Providence.
Tentative Agenda
RI Compost Conference and Trade Show Friday February 8, 2013 Johnson & Wales University Harborside Recreation Center.
8:30 AM Registration begins and trade show opens.
9 AM Welcome Greetings From hosts, conveners, and dignitaries
9:25 AM Charge for the day
9:35 AMKeynote Gretel Clark Hamilton MA compost program
10:15 AM announcements
10:20 AM head to workshops
First session of panels 10:30 to 11;25
Solutions for restaurants Matt Genusio Chez Pascal Paul Frade PF Trading
Home composting Nancy Warner Worm Ladies of Charlestown Reinhard Sidor URI Master Composter
Compost science Dr. Robert Rafka
The environment in RI for advances in composting Frank Jacques Buxton Hollow Farm Greg Gerritt RI Compost Initiative
Second session 11:35 to 12:30
Solutions for institutions Scott Miller JWU , Jim Murphy RIC David Temple Vegware
The state of compost on Smith Hill Rep. Art Handy (invited)
In vessel aerobic composting John Clifford Big Hanna
Compost, soil, and food in Rhode Island Mike Merner Earthcare Farm Ken Ayars RIDEM
Lunch and Trade Show at 12:30 in the exhibition hall
2 PM panel what next Panelists from RIRRC, RIDEM, Massrecycle.
3 PM next steps
3:15 PM Trade show
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