New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO

More labor news: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joes-Union-Review/177207914342?v=wall&ref=mf

Reality check: City workers need to understand how important private industry is in their dilemma, a lot of bills that should be paid by the private sector are being siphoned, ponder this...

Wanna know where the money is not coming from? Non-union construction. According to FPI (Fiscal Policy Institute), the loss of tax revenue in NYC on "high rise (over 80')" construction in 2007 was an estimated $545 MILLION. That's a lot of school teachers and firemen.Non-union construction, aside from a small few decent employers, robs all New Yorkers. The non-"high rise" numbers are even scarier, and our City Council covers their eyes so their rich developer friends can get a free ride on the workers backs. Did I mention the conditions?Would you work 12 hours a day at $12, $8, maybe not get paid at all? No training? No safety equipment? Being told that if you get injured to say it happened on the soccer field? How about having a boss holding a noose over your head in the form of a threat of calling INS or ICE? No Workers Comp Insurance? How about child labor on skyscrapers, that happens too. Most chilling is that with a slave class of undocumented workers, and a never ending influx of replacements, from Mexico to Ireland to Poland, it has become truly unregulated, meaning we haven't a clue of the dire deeds that have transpired and continue to go unnoticed. Oh and did I mention that they just don't seem to get inspected all too often, just seeing the employees in shorts and sneakers shows that all too clearly, while I have certificates of fitness to use a torch and can't even light a cigarette on a union job and on another project a 15 year old is running around a project with a piece of sheet rock on his back. Double standards abound.

Union tradesman, male and female, of all nationalities and backgrounds, with training of up to 6 years sit home, while most politicians turn a blind eye, and tax base disappears to filter into unscrupulous contractors and developers pockets. Many state and tax funded work including that of NYSAFAH (affordable housing) thrive on using questionable contractors and bash unions (I remember what you said Peter Carr even if the Village Voice chose to edit it out) as thugs while stroking the backs of the true thugs, unscrupulous contractors.... See More

See how it's all intertwined:
Building Up New York, Tearing Down Job Quality: Taxpayer Impact of Worsening Employment Practices in the New York City Construction Industry (PDF file) http://www.cpwr.com/pdfs/Building%20Up%20New%20York,%20Tearing%20Down%20Job%20Quality.pdf

The Nation: Working Without Laws- http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/bernhardt_milkman_theodore

Brennan Center: Unregulated Work In The Global City(PDF)
http://nelp.3cdn.net/cc4d61e5942f9cfdc5_d6m6bgaq4.pdf

Now take what I wrote and add in small construction, the pizza shop, the gardener, the newsstand, misclassification, Visa abuse, the warehouses, the sorting facilities, our representatives are allowing a slave class of workers and giving the owners a free ride.

END THE SLAVE CLASS, TRULY FIX THE BORDER PROBLEM AT THE BORDER, AIRPORTS and PORTS, END VISA ABUSE and Then figure an Amnesty plan, one where those contractors and employers that circumvented the law and engaged in illegal hiring and wage theft go to jail, pay unpaid back taxes for their employees and fines for their indiscrepancies and our major problems will be solved. Do nothing then you should stop complaining.

way to go...

Jobs with justice has their yearly grinch awards- still accepting nominations till I believe Friday