Businesses behaving badly
In past posts, I have explained actions that businesses–usually large corporations–have taken that are decidedly contrary to the interests of the general public. For this, commentors have claimed that I’m anti-business, that I’m using scare tactics, I’m just a socialist, or some combination thereof. However, in the news over the past month or so we [...]
Rhode Island celebrates International Workers’ Day
Happy May Day, Rhode Island! Most of the globe calls it International Workers Day , though it’s a largely ignored holiday here in the States. To celebrate locally, meet at Central High School in Providence at 3:30 for a march to the State House expected to arrive at roughly 5; more info here. And here’s a [...]
The origins of May Day
Today is May Day, the workers’ holiday. At least in most nations. But not the United States. The story of May Day goes back to Chicago in 1866. On March 4, 1886, during a protest march against police brutality in Chicago’s Haymarket Square, a bomb went off in the middle of a group of policemen, [...]
Remember Seth Luther
UPDATE April 29, 2013: Today is the 150th anniversary of Seth Luther’s death. Since last year’s post, records have been found locating Luther possible final resting place in Brattleboro, Vermont. A WIKI page is in formation, and other plans to follow. Here is a great link to a 1974 essay by on Luther by Carl [...]
Labor Vision on marriage equality
To get ready for the big marriage vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday watch this great Labor Vision (for which I am a sometime contributor!) segment on why local labor unions are working so hard get same sex marriage passed this year. Jim Parisi, of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health [...]
ProJo Scapegoats Unions, Ignores Wall Street
It’s fine if the Providence Journal editorial board wants to espouse a right wing philosophy, even if such ideas are largely out of touch with the people of Rhode Island. It’s not okay for the Providence Journal to blame organized labor for their policy positions when unions have nothing to do with it. The latest [...]
Kids Count: Four Core Cities Are Bane Of RI
There are two economies in Rhode Island. And they are very different from each other. There’s the one found in East Greenwich, where everyone has pretty good and probably high-paying jobs and our public schools perform well and prepare our children for college and beyond. Our real estate might be worth a little bit less, [...]
Gina’s Moral Obligation: Wall Street, Not RI
There is an old saying in politics. “Don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me your budget, and I will tell you what your priorities are.” Over the course of her first term as General Treasurer, Gina Raimondo, when pressed to make a choice stand with workers or with Wall Street she will choose [...]
Hotel Employees Picket Providence Renaissance
It seems that the new boss is the same as the old boss at the Renaissance Hotel in Providence. The Renaissance was made famous not for its stellar customer service, but for this now infamous YouTube video of Joey DeFrancesco quitting his job with the help of the What Cheer? Brigade. Joey quit his job [...]
Forbes Trashes Raimondo
Don’t file this one under Raimondomia as Forbes offers a very harsh criticism of General Treasurer/gubernatorial candidate Gina Raimondo. Ted Siedle writes that Rhode Island’s pension reform, which has attracted many accolades, “will inevitably dramatically increase both risk and fees paid to alternative investment managers, such as hedge funds and private equity firms.” And those [...]
What Cheer? Brigade To Again Picket Renaissance Hotel
Remember when Joey DeFrancesco employed the What Cheer? Brigade to help him quit his job at the Providence Renaissance Hotel? “They treat us like shit here and I’m going to go in and quit right now with the help of my band mates the What Cheer? Brigade,” he said in the now-famous You Tube video [...]
Save Saturday Delivery
Thousands of jobs in Rhode Island would be in jeopardy if conservative forces in Congress successfully shut down Saturday delivery of the mail, said local post office employees at a recent rally at Garden City in Cranston to call attention to the issue.
Was Labor ‘At The Table’ For Pension Legislation?
Probably a big point of contention as Rhode Island and its public sector retirees try to mediate a compromise on pension reform will be whether or not organized labor was considered when drafting the legislation. As few hundred Providence fire fighters, police officers and other public sector union members protested outside a conference for Bond [...]
The Jilted Spouse
Here’s a familiar story. A man and a woman get married when they’re young. Time passes, they age, they grow, and, before you know it, 25 years have passed. Then, one day, with no real warning, the man tells the wife that she’s too old. He’s dumping her for a younger woman who doesn’t have [...]
East Side Community Wants Its Librarian Back
Community action continues as East Side residents demand answers from the Providence Community Libraries (PCL) over the unceremonious and unexplained firing of popular librarian Tom O’Donnell from the Rochambeau Library in February. Picketing has been scheduled for every day the library is open, (the winter storm due later tonight and tomorrow not withstanding) and O’Donnell [...]
George Nee: Real Work Gets Done In The Trenches
When most Rhode Islanders think of George Nee, president of the 80,000 member Rhode Island AFL-CIO, they probably have images of his speaking at a State House rally to support labor causes or testifying at a legislative hearing to protect worker pensions. Probably there are some politicians, on both sides of the aisle, who have [...]
The Responsible Contract Resolution Act And Conn.
The Responsible Contract Resolution Act – better known as binding arbitration – will be debated in committee at the State House today. At this hearing, and in the local media before and after it, you will hear many of the Rhode Island’s most vocal union busters complain that the bill is tantamount to letting labor [...]
Is North Kingstown Going The Way Of Wisconsin?
Has sticking it to public sector workers become such popular politics in Rhode Island that the North Kingstown Town Council is willing to risk more than a million dollars to do so? That’s what NK fire union president Ray Furtado is beginning to think after the Council was again admonished by Judge Brian Stern; in [...]
Broken Promises in NK
Negotiations between the Town of North Kingstown and its firefighters union, IAFF Local 1651 on Wednesday ended in a mutually agreed tentative agreement. Right? After all, Wednesday’s ten hour session at the bargaining table resulted in a Tentative Agreement, dated and signed by Town Manager, Michael Embury and the union’s representative, President Raymond Furtado. Handshakes [...]
Some Year-End Reading for Progressive Policy Geeks
This time of year folks compile their year-end reading lists; so as we head into the holiday week, with pension debates and fiscal cliffs waiting for us on the other side of the calendar, I wanted to offer some suggestions: The first is a just released paper from Steven M. Teles, Associate Professor of Political [...]
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