DONOHUE DEFINES TAX CAP AND "CUOMONOMICS"

Danny Donohue
photo: WNYLaborToday.com

Albany, N.Y.-- The head of the state’s largest public-employees union took to a labor website today to blast New York’s property-tax cap and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s position on a state millionaires’ tax, calling the governor’s economic policies “indefensible.”

On LaborPress.org, state Civil Service Employees Association President Danny Donohue said Cuomo’s policies—particularly the 2 percent tax cap—“make it harder for localities to manage their budgets and diminish the quality of life in our communities.”

“The reality of the tax cap initiative is very different from the perception that was sold to the public last spring,” Donohue wrote. “It does not reduce taxes, it simply limits the ability of local governments to address their budget challenges by imposing an artificial cap on their budget growth. The result is now being felt by counties, cities, towns and villages who face the hard reality of service cuts, closures and other pain.”

The emotion behind Donohue’s op-ed is different from comments he made after CSEA came to a deal on a five-year contract with the state, when he said he hoped the union could work together with the governor on various issues.

Labor unions, meanwhile, have made clear they’re going to fight for an added tax on New York’s higher earners. A surcharge on those making more than $200,000 expires at the end of the year.

“Think about it: localities are hurting, state operations have been cut to the bone, public workers have already sacrificed, retirees have been charged more for their health coverage, state revenue projects are alarmingly lower than expected,” Donohue wrote. “But Gov. Cuomo is still hell-bent on giving a $5 billion TAX CUT to the super rich!"

He added, “Indefensible is the only polite way I can describe it.”

-original post by John Campbell, Politics on the Hudson

GIVE US FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY NOW!

A THANKSGIVING MESSAGE FROM LOCAL 828 PRESIDENT BESS WATTS

CSEA Local 828 President Bess Watts
photo: Watts family

This Thanksgiving, when my family and I gather to give thanks for all that’s important to us, we’ll be especially grateful for our labor friends like you.

Our local governments and state legislators across our nation rely on our nationwide network of progressive supporters and activists, and you’re a big part of that. Your energy, votes, your volunteerism, and your contributions make it possible for labor friendly advocates to win elections and push for progressive change in the workplace.

Your activism helps shine a spotlight on workplace democracy, provide key votes and actions by policymakers and make our communities stronger. Your voice amplifies the voices of millions of other workers – including those who are often silenced by fear. Together, we want progressive issues and progressive values to define our national debate to move our country forward.

In short, there is no union without you.

As the upcoming meetings, campaigns and programs unfold, working families everywhere will be counting on you once again. And we’ll continue to be thankful, as always, for everything you do.

Happy Thanksgiving, to you and yours.

Sincerely,

Bess Watts
President, CSEA Monroe County Local 828

AFSCME FIRES BACK AT NEWT'S IDIOCY

Dear Newt,

Our country outlawed child labor. Almost a hundred years later, in the middle of the worst unemployment crisis in decades, you want to bring it back. Seriously?

Doing janitorial work in a school entails sanitizing toilets, handling hazardous cleaning chemicals, and scrubbing floors hunched over a mop for hours. It's hard to imagine a nine-year old doing any of those tasks. Come on.

The US outlawed child labor because it denied children the chance at a real education and allowed employers to exploit children — and because children were often injured or killed on the job. That's why labor unions fought to pass laws outlawing child labor and protecting all workers.

And the people you want to fire and replace with kids? A lot of them are parents. That job puts a roof over kids' heads, food on the table, and provides them with health care and the chance to get an education. That job is the only thing between a kid and poverty.

Firing someone's mom and hiring the kid for less money isn't exactly the "process of rising." It is, in fact, the process of falling. It is the process of exploiting and destroying working families. The fact that you don't get that makes you not only out of touch, but utterly unqualified to serve in any elected position, let alone President of the United States.

GOP SUPPORTS THE ONE PERCENT; COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE 99 PERCENT OF US

WE ARE THE 99%
photo: Ove Overmyer

Rochester, N.Y.-- The supercommittee negotiations have failed. Why? Because elected Republicans simply refused to make billionaires and big corporations lift even one finger to help reduce the debt. In fact, they’re still demanding perks for their biggest benefactors, the top 1 percent. The same people who put them in office and same people who pull their puppet strings.

Instead, here’s who elected Republicans think should shoulder the burden-- seniors on Medicare. Middle class families who want to send their children to college. Every American receiving Social Security. The unemployed and all those who are suffering the most in this economy. Whose is left? If you or your loved ones fall into any of these catagories, and I think you do, it's time to get into the streets and make some noise.

There’s no other word for GOP behavior but disgraceful. Democratic senators didn't stand for it. We at the Voice Reporter won’t stand for it. And I know you won’t, either. It’s time to unite with one clear voice and demand that Republicans stop putting the wealthy at the head of the line. Please expose them for who they truly are-- they are minions for the world's richest CEO's and America's wealthiest bankers and could care less about democracy and the common good.

When we look back on this supercommittee's exploits, we’ve ended up at this stalemate because these radicalized Republicans refuse to think rationally. If we don’t stand our ground now – and if we allow them to take the White House and the Senate in 2012 – we will lose our ability to stop them from unraveling our social safety net right out from under the Americans whose lives depend on it.

Labor leaders who support the GOP should step aside

We thought twice about sharing this publicly, but it's high time we air some dirty laundry in our local labor circles. Someone had to eventually say this, so why not us? Also, there are some folks that have left us no alternative. That’s why today we are speaking out, and saying “no more.” It's a brand new day.

It’s time for Republicans to listen to the vast majority of Americans and stop putting billionaires before the rest of the country. It's a simple request. Will that ever happen? Maybe, maybe not. But until that happens, it's time for folks in the labor community to stop supporting Republicans. The line in the sand has been drawn a long time ago and you better make sense of it right now. We have said this before and we will say it again, if you don't consider yourself a "wealthy" person, you have no business supporting the GOP at any level of government. Period. Even if it makes your personal job that much easier.

In 2011, the political fulcrum has shifted so far right that Ronald Reagan couldn't even get elected as a Republican. And while we're at it, shame on the working families, labor leaders and folks who voted for Republican candidates this past election cycle. Obviously, you can not see the forest through the trees. You are only contributing to your own demise. You slapped the face of every hard working union and family member we collectively represent. Whatever your reasons for voting for GOP candidates, they will never trump the "bigger picture" aspect of moving the American Labor Movement forward.

The question remains, when will you sidestep your own personal, petty predicaments and understand you have a collective principled responsibility to a higher order of things? Our recommendation to these labor leaders is get out of the way or switch to an organizing model of operations. For some of you, your time has come and gone. It's almost 2012-- it's a whole new ball game now in case you haven't noticed.

-Commentary by Ove Overmyer
This op-ed is the expressed written opinion of the author only and does not reflect the view of CSEA as an organization.