Buffalo News Battles Unions

The sub-title to the headline says it all about the Buffalo Snooze's opinion of the Buffalo School Board election/race: Union-backed candidates appear to have edge in money and manpower over the majority block.

Well, duh?

First: There are more union people than majority block(ing progress) candidates. There are more people that are sick of all the attacks on teachers. There are more people that are getting sick of all the testing that tells us nothing of what a student is truly capable of. So, I don't see the problem here.

And as far as manpower goes – it's called organizing. It's what unions do. When everybody is fighting for themselves, it's divide and conquer and the workers lose. So, when the workers band together to make their voices heard it's a bad thing? 

Can we get some clarification on that?

Second: Money. Carl PaladiNO doesn't have money to spend? Seriously? This so called self made millionaire doesn't have money to buy TV, radio,and newspaper ads?

Wait – He's been getting them free since he first ran and was elected to the Board of Education. Any time there's a question to be asked of the Board, whom do I get to see and hear from? The media's favorite go to guy: Carl PaladiNO.

And if someone were to weigh out all the actual cost of all the free advertising that Carl has received over the years, the union has not out-spent him at all. Corporate Buffalo Media has outspent the union.

I rarely hear from anyone in the union on issues affecting education. I'm sure it would be nice to have a Buffalo Teacher's Federation spokesperson on as much as PaladiNO has been. It would have at least given us (those that have paid for PaladiNO's tax breaks/corporate welfare) more information.

The Snooze just wants the people of Buffalo to roll over and play dead while corporate America rolls on in and takes over the city. Not too dead – someone has to pay for all that corporate welfare and they don't want it to be them.

If the editors were serious about reforming education in Buffalo they would provide information that shows that all this testing actually does improve education and achievement.

To date they have provided nothing at all that supports their claim.

Then again,  there is no information that supports that claim,  so.....

Does the Buffalo School District need help because students are struggling to achieve? 

Yes.

But the News has done nothing to address the number one cause of educational dysfunction – poverty.

Buffalo needs to address the issue of poverty, but that means attacking corporate America and the people that own the News.

It's just easier to attack teachers and say that they are the problem.

Well, the teachers and other unions have said “No more.”

And they are not throwing their hands up in the air and walking out of the ring.

They are lacing up their gloves, wiping off the sweat and showing what the power of numbers can do.

And the News doesn't like it.

So the Buffalo Snooze has a problem with the Buffalo Teacher's Federation and associated unions getting together and fighting against a corporate takeover of the school system?

I'd say they have a different problem – It's a problem with democracy.

Self-Checking Out Workers

On this May Day – the day recognized around the world except in the US as the International Workingman's Day (or Woman's, or fill in your gender here) – I realized that we, the workers, in the interest of saving ourselves some time are helping the 1% outsource jobs in the local stores that we use.

I noticed this at the local Tops where there are numerous check out lanes and then there is the self-check out section.

In the regular lanes you will see one cashier checking/cashing out one customer.

In the self check-out lane you will see one cashier checking out four (or more) customers simultaneously. And it is the customer doing the bulk of the work for the cashier. They are just monitoring us to make sure that we are doing their job for them properly and not stealing anything.

Think about that for a minute – When we use the self checkout lane, we are taking jobs away from the cashiers. And at Tops – they are unionized. Granted, I hear complaints about the union and how weak it is. But it is a union and the union is as strong as its members make it.

So we are taking jobs away from unionized workers. I'm not sure about other stores that use self check out. I know Wal-Mart has self check-out and is fighting unionization.

In manufacturing (like General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar, etc) it was machines replacing the workers. Sometimes under the guise of making the work easier to do. Using a lift or pneumatic tool to do what used to be done by hand by several people.

In Tops and other stores – it's us replacing them and we aren't even being paid for it or given a discount.

Remember – the goal of the capitalists is to make as much of a profit as possible in any way possible. So they want to get the workers to do more work for less money. They will use mechanization and outsourcing to achieve this goal.

In stores with self check out they are in-sourcing the work force and not even paying them – that is us, the customer.

So we can go around with our $15 NOW signs, protest and sign petitions all we want, and then watch the 1% introduce self check-out in order to get around the $15 NOW demands.

It's sort of defeating the purpose of $15 NOW because now they can cut the number of workers needed down and reduce the cashiers down to part time status, which will make their wages what it was before $15 NOW and cut their benefits. So if they received health insurance before, they might not be eligible for it. Or they could get the insurance but wind up paying more for it and watching their pay checks get shrunk even more.

So, in honor of our fellow workers – Do NOT use self check out.

It's time we stopped supporting the1%s drive to outsource us all.

Striking against Verizon

Verizon workers went on strike to protect the benefits that they have worked long and hard for.

Who are they striking against?  Wall Street, capitalism,  and the ever growing demand for profit.

The front lines of the working class are the CWA and other unions that are fighting to protect the incomes that they have earned building the company and keeping it solvent.

The overpaid and under worked CEO wants the workers to give up their salary and benefits so that he can give himself a pay raise some time down the road.

We must support the unionized workers and say (a firm and resounding) NO.

NO to wage cuts for the workers.

NO to insurance cuts and premium increases on their insurance.

NO to retirement benefit cuts.

If you look at it properly,  the current CEO and administration (presidents, vice-presidents, etc) did not even build the company.  They came on later and padded their salaries and benefits at the expense of the workers.

They are also the ones that build over priced office buildings that cost the company dearly in profits.

They are the ones that buy the expensive mahogany desks,  nib pens, and other overpriced luxuries that do nothing for the company.

If there are salary cuts,  then take it out of their (the administrative) salaries.
How many telephone lines do they service?
How many houses do they connect?
Do they go out in the crappy weather to service someone's lines when a phone is  not working?

If there are to be benefits cuts, then cut their (the administrative) salaries.
After all,  how much insurance do you need for a paper cut?

If there are retirement benefit cuts,  take it off the top.
Regular workers have to fund their own retirements,  why not the top?
Who are they that they deserve something special?

And the non-unionized workers need to stop picking up the slack for the strikers.
All they are proving is that fewer workers can do all the work that the striking workers normally do.
So fewer workers doing more work for the same money is a recipe for a workplace disaster.
Think about it - they are slicing their own throats.

So we need to support the CWA and other unions that are striking.

An injury against one is an injury against all.

Update:  I would like to add the IBEW to the list  of unions that are on strike.  For some reason I could not remember them when I was hashing this out in 5 minutes.

Buffalo News has it in for Workers

I have been reading the Buffalo News with increasing anger the last few weeks.  And anyone that reads the news and is a member of a union would know why.  

The News -  owned by Warren Buffet, the Crown Prince of the 1% in the US, has been taking full broadsides at any victory by unions or the working class.  No matter what the victory,  the News slams it.

NYS is increasing the minimum wage:  Bad because it will cost jobs and hurt small businessmen.  They cited no proof.  Then again,  there are plenty of states and areas with higher minimum wages than NYS and they are doing just fine.

And at that increase,  it's only for the NYC area.  Probably Yonkers too.  It's pretty expensive to live down there because of the over priced real estate.  (Seriously – People in NYC are getting ripped off big time.  They are paying to live in a city with a famous name.)  The rest of NY is getting increased only to $12.50.  Incrementally.  And with a review in 2021 to see if it needs to go higher.

If wages kept up with productivity workers would be making over $20 an hour.  The profits are all going to the 1% and not to the people that make them possible.  

And the paid leave of absence.  Up to 12 weeks I believe.  100% funded by payroll deductions from worker paychecks.  I have read nothing about matching payments from business owners.  And this is bad.  (I will have to read more about this I admit.  I am still catching up on my reading.)

And the restoration of education funding.  Again,  bad.  Unions fought for it so it's bad.  (The News might want to remember something:  People who can't read don't buy newspapers.)  The cuts in funding have hurt districts and students immeasurably.  I have students that are so turned off by education (even though they need it for the careers that they want to pursue) that it's sad.

And the opposition to testing.  Union run, so bad.  I heard about opposition to testing and the whole opt-out movement from conservative Republican parents who dislike President Obama more than I hear it from union representatives.  (Never mind that the whole idea of testing has its roots in a Bush Era, Republican backed law called “No Child Left Behind.)  Yes,  the high stakes testing has a negative impact on teachers and their careers.  It is also stressing out students.  That is never talked about though.  Only the fact that NYSUT – the teachers' union – is opposed to the unrealistic level of accountability that no other career is held to - and wants ended.

Seriously,  if the news media were held to the same criteria that they demand that teachers be held to there wouldn't be a paper around. Afghanistan in 2001?  Iraq in 2003? Epic fails.  Libya in 2011?  Still a basket case.  No success there.  The Iran nuclear deal?  (Iran even wanting nuclear weapons for that matter):  Total screw up.  American newspapers might as well have had Israeli hardliners writing their stories.  Now,  to give the News credit,  they did post the story (buried inside the paper and not on the front page where it belonged) that Mossad (Israeli Intelligence Service) stated that Iran had no nuclear weapons,  was not pursuing the ability to develop nuclear weapons,  and did not want nuclear weapons.  

Quite honestly,  pretty every newspaper editor in the country deserves a pink slip over those stories alone.

I can go into the Venezuela coup and opposition – which is being run by the CIA.  Go into world news services and they talk about it.  The News?  Maybe a sentence or two.  Possibly a small paragraph buried somewhere.  No resounding critique of a US foreign policy run amok destabilizing countries that are none of its concern.

An US mindless support for Saudi Arabia  and Pakistan – the two leading countries that support al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS/DAESH, and other terrorist organizations?  Almost missing.  Except on the Sunday Viewpoints page.  It doesn't belong there.  It belongs on the front page where people will read about it and demand that the federal government stop subsidizing these terrorist supporting regimes with our taxpayer dollars.

I have former students that go into history and political science. They won't even read US papers because of how bad and wrong they report things.

And I am not alone in this disgust of the News' anti-union,  anti-labor, & anti-worker attitude.

If everyone that fell into any of those three categories stopped buying the paper,  it would be belly up in a week.

So,  what to do?

We the people need to remind the News that they exist to serve us.  

Perhaps we need a day of action outside their offices to remind them that we are the biggest part of the population and we want our voices heard.  (I really don't care what Carl PaladiNO thinks about education or anything else.)

Perhaps we need to flood their newsroom with letters from workers that subscribe to their paper.

Flooding their in-boxes with emails is too easy to deal with– mass delete.  I do it every day with those stupid porn e-mails that come in.  (Why do I get them?)

Perhaps we need to start our own labor newspaper.  Articles written by workers in the various industries,  unionized or not.  NYSUT, CWA, Teamsters, AFL-CIO,  SEIU, and others.  And the non-unionized workers as well.  OUR Wal-Mart comes to mind.

A workers paper.  Even if weekly.  It would give us a voice that we don't have and that the people need to hear.

Remember:  Buffalo is a one newspaper town.  There is no competition, aside from the local weeklies.  So there is an opening.  And I thought capitalism thrived on competition. But then again,  maybe that's why the News is falling into mediocrity.  (And other papers around the region and our country.)

And it would not have to be socialist necessarily.  Though socialists have fought for workers rights and in workers issues from time immemorial.  

So,  will the News listen to us or do we need to make our own megaphone?

Either way,  we need to be loud and clear:  WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!

Just say "No." To what?

I was young when Ronald Reagan and his astrology consulting wife were in the White House. ( I only say that because I know of too many “holy roller” so-called Christians that idolize Reagan for his stance on abortion even though astrology is against their personal beliefs. They are clueless about any of his other policies.)

I was even a “Reagan Republican.” I'm glad I was able to extract my head from the other extremity of my body and begin to discern the truth about what really happened during his reign.

I remember the war on drugs and the infamous “Just say 'NO'” campaign.

Nancy should have told Ronnie all the places he needed to say “No” to.

He needed to say “No” to cutting taxes on the 1% and raising them on everyone else. This was the beginning of the end of the middle class. Ronnie started the all out war on the 99% and he used everything he could to carry it out.

When I tell people that Reaganomics could have never worked according to Dr Paul Craig Robert – I always get attacked by the neo-liberal economic freaks and the so called fiscal conservatives. Then I tell them that the good Dr was the “Father of Reaganomics” and that the whole thing (trickle down economics) was a scam to make the rich richer at every one else's expense. Some people still lack the mental facilities to understand what I said. Sad.

Ronnie should have said “No” to the war on unions. The union movement was necessary for the success of the middle class and helped to build this country. His war on the air traffic controllers, which resulted in the wholesale firing of every controller, was the beginning of the end of the union movement and a major assault on the middle class. It, the unions and the middle class, still have not recovered from those wounds.

Ronnie should have said “No” to the proxy war in Iran. The US should have pulled its nose out of the war between Iraq and Iran and provided no support to trite side. Because of the US support for Iraq with arms, biological / chemical weapons, and intelligence, Iraq violated the international convention on the use of biological and chemical weapons and committed a crime against humanity. Thousands of Iranian men suffered needlessly in the use of those weapons. And let us also remember the use of the weapons on the Kurds. And we turned a blind eye in both instances and (most likely) kept Saddam Hussein (our boy toy in power) out of the International Criminal Court.

BTW – for anyone in the know, the war between Iraq and Iran led to the financial crisis that Iraq went into and was a part of the reason they invaded Kuwait. (I say part because I have been told but have not been able to corroborate a statement that I was told about Kuwait stealing Iraqi oil and selling it on the open market. Anyone have any research proving this?) This lead to the sanctions in the 1990's that led to the death of 500,000 Iraqi children and women, and eventually the disastrous 2003 invasion that we are still picking up the pieces after.

Ronnie should have said “No' to the CIA smuggling in pot and cocaine into the US. Iran-Contra came into existence when a CIA plane was shot down, the pilot captured and the cargo of the plane was found to be contraband drugs. BTW – I remember the drug problem in the 1980's being pot and cocaine. I wonder how much the CIA smuggled in.

BTW: There were all sorts of Constitutional problems with the Iran-Contra affair and only the suspicious death of CIA Director William Casey kept Reagan from being impeached and his Vice President out of prison. (Shades of Nixon anyone?)

There are so many more things that Reagan should have said “No” to.

“No” to the war on a woman's Constitutional right to choose. (See Roe v Wade.)

“No” to supporting the Afghan rebels and Osama bin Laden against the Soviet Union. (9/11 anyone?) Afghanistan was a successful democracy and improving in many areas. And then we stuck our noses into it. It's been how many years? And things are how much worse than in the 70's?

“No” to the wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua. (How does a so called Christian President arm rebels that murder the Archbishop of a country during a mass? And support the rape and murder of Catholic nuns and the murder of Catholic priests?)

I'm sure these is so much more that could be said.

What else should Nancy have told Ronnie to say “No” to?

And how much better off as a nation would we be if he had?

Update: March 8, 2016

I was advised not to speak ill of the dead so soon.

What of the living dead that President Reagan created?

His full frontal whole scale war on the poor created legions of the living dead.

His policies began the scaling back of anti-poverty legislation that kept people in housing, put food on their tables, and provided medical care when ill.

Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II took Reagan's policies full bore and created an entire underclass of people that it is OK for everyone to dump on, without any regard for how they got there.

This includes the unemployed former union and blue collar workers. I know of a few white collar workers that are in this class now as well. And, somehow, their situation is all their fault.

Could Reagan have said “No” to that?

Then there was the closing of the mental health hospitals that took care of those whose mental faculties are, to be kind, not all there. They became the modern homeless people that we see on the streets. They wind up in jails and prisons for petty crimes and cost us much more than any “insane asylum” ever did.

Could Reagan have said “No” to that policy?

And then there is our infamous budget deficit. In eight years of fiscal irresponsibility Reagan tripled it. Bush II did the same exact thing with similar policies. (Fool me once, twice, better not get to three.)

And now we face crippling cuts to our schools, hospitals, libraries, roads, bridges, and other public fixtures because, somehow cutting taxes on the 1% was going to create a budget surplus.

Some lies I can live without.

The sooner we expose these and help people to see the truth, the faster we will be able to turn this ship around and away from the coming storm that will destroy us all.

Then again, maybe it is the storm that will reveal everything.

Cuomo's Billion Dollar Bribes

The “Buffalo Billion” and a proposed $1 Billion in new education funding for public schools. It's nice how “Status” Cuomo is throwing around money these days. What I find interesting is the recipients and the amounts.

Look at the “Buffalo Billion.” It is being used to “rebuild” Buffalo and WNY after the rust belt disaster and the Crash of 2007. After NAFTA and other disastrous policies of the ruling elites that began in the 1970's (OK. NAFTA was in the 1990's for the chronologically pure) the whole of WNY suffered a great decline with the destruction of the manufacturing industries.

Now, with the automotive industry mostly shifted to the non-union south and out of the country, Cuomo brings in big bucks to bribe capitalists to build and invest in WNY. And many of the new jobs, while paying decently, are non-union jobs and the elites have no fear of the unions because most of the old unions die-hards have died or retired and what is left of the union leadership has pretty much sold out to the 1%.

This is an easy buck for the 1%.

They have an economically depressed area, a governor (in their pocket) who is willing to give them our tax dollars to build their businesses in the state, and tax deferment for 10 years,All of this is out of our pockets and onto our backs because we have a population that is getting desperate for employment.

Sounds to me like we lose here.

Now let's look at the $1 Billion proposed for new education funding.

Actually it's not an addition. It's a restoration of some of what Cuomo cut from school budgets back in 2007 in order to balance the state budget. That he did it on the backs of our children instead of on the the backs of Wall Street, the banks, and other corporations that crashed the economy and then demanded we we bail them out is even more reprehensible.

So Cuomo's cutting dollars and adding back spare change.

And school districts are in a panic because the tax cap this year is 0.12% - not enough to maintain programs at last year's levels. Even though the economy is “looking up” because of the low unemployment rate (according to capitalist economists), school districts are looking to have to cut positions and programs because the tax cap is too low to sustain or grow programs for students next year.

What we need to understand: Cuomo sold us a bill of goods. He claimed that the tax cap would be set at 2% a year for school taxes. The actual bill stated that it would be 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. This year the rate of inflation is 0.12%. The students got screwed and we were told that they were not performing good enough on exams, so the schools we paid for with our taxes have to be privatized (so that capitalists can make money off of our children).

What is interesting is that Cuomo is willing to throw billions of dollars at his capitalist friends so that they can make money, but the people who really are responsible for the economy and making it work and grow get pennies.

And that shows in the educational system where students are tested to death from grades 3 on and then go to college and have to take remedial courses because they can not pass a basic high school comprehension exam in Math and Language Arts. (This includes reading skills. Something students rarely do any more,)

Interesting. The group that funds his campaigns get billions and the people he needs to put him into office he tries to sucker into voting for him with pennies.

This is a joke and an insult.

Socialists, and anyone that thinks, demand:

1. An end to taxpayers subsidizing capitalist ventures. If we're paying for it – We get ownership.

2. Any corporation that refuses to grant ownership to the citizens is allowed to keep their company and all tax breaks are converted to interest bearing loans. BTW – The loans have to be guaranteed by the CEO & Board of Directors' personal wealth. The interest rate is equal to prime plus a fair percentage per year. (Look at home mortgages and equity loans for guidelines. Or small business loans.)

3. Full restoration of all educational funding to 2007 levels, adjusted for inflation and with interest.

These are the minimums.

Long term,  we demand justice and socialism.

Breaking the Silos

Rod Watson penned a very good article today (February 4, 2016) in the Buffalo News. He wrote about the divide and conquer strategy that the 1% uses to keep the middle and working classes divided against themselves. Take the time and read it, It's pretty decent. He outlines the problem nicely.

He focuses on the work of Les Leopold of the Labor Institute (located in NYC) and how he is working and helping to raise class consciousness and awareness. This is a good thing to to.

My issue/concern: He doesn't offer a solution to the problem. He does talk about how the CWA (Communication Workers of America) and the Citizen Action Group of NY are working to create a grass roots response to the divide and conquer tactics of the 1%. Basically it's a modified version of the Populist Movement of the late 1800's and the early 1900's. This movement died out in the 1920's. Today, groups like this get folded into the Democratic Party. Anyone that knows politics knows that the 1% controls the Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee just like they control the Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. Same puppet master – different puppets.

What he doesn't talk about, because high school history classes don't teach about it and rarely will a college course, is the socialist and communist movements that also started in the 1870's and are still around today. Still fighting the good fight in spite of the state repression against them. J Edgar Hoover's FBI, the Smith Act (among others), and the COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) of the 1970's which had a withering effect on the socialist & communist left.

I'm not going to belabor the point, but the solution to the past, present, and future crisis of capitalism is socialism – an economy of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not social democracy (like what the Scandinavian and other European nations have) but socialism.

Take some time and dig into the following links and educate yourself about the alternative.

Socialism - An Introduction

Socialist Studies 

High school wouldn't do it & college has morphed more into career education.

Educate and radicalize yourself.

And while you are at it – subscribe to a pretty decent newspaper written by real socialists. It's worth the time and effort,

After all, you have nothing to lose but your chains.

And silos are pretty crappy places to live in.

On this day in history.....

On this day in 1947, HUAC – the House Un-American Activities Committee began it's witch hunt of communists in Hollywood. Many people saw their careers shattered as this violation of First Amendment Rights proceeded.

This grew into the McCarthy Era insanity where communists were everywhere and had to be hunted down and, in some cases (like the Rosenbergs), murdered by the state on trumped up charges. (You can put a pun in there if you want.)

So many people that were abiding by their First Amendment rights had their lives destroyed. Freedom of speech and of the press. Freedom of association (peaceably assemble). Redress of grievances. All violated by the state out of some form of paranoia.

This paranoia dragged the US into the Vietnam war, which saw 58,000+ American servicemen and women die in combat and over 1 million Vietnamese killed as well. The aftermath of the war was worse – Agent Orange poisoning and PTSD with its high rates of alcoholism & drug abuse. Dare we look at the damage done to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos?

This happened before in American History. Look at the work that people did to organize unions. And the capitalists turned the power of the state against the workers.

Look at the WWI era United States, where President Wilson put the research of Walter Lippman into practice, lied the US into a war that was none of its business (sound familiar?) and jailed prominent socialists, like Eugene V. Debs. (By the way – running for president from jail, he still pulled in an incredible amount of votes. Over 100,000 when you had to be a 21+ year old male in order to vote at that time.)

Post WWI was as bad. Socialists were denied their seats in congress, driven out of political positions they were democratically elected to across the US. People were jailed. And J. Edgar Hoover began a reign of terror that lasted into the 1960's that would make Hitler, Stalin, and the East German Stasi proud.

Look at the Minneapolis strikes, Cleveland, and any time that workers rose up for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and you will see the capitalists using (or trying to use) brutal force and the power of the state to put them down.

Thankfully it is hitting a wall. In the 18-30 year old demographic socialism is as acceptable as capitalism as an economic system. Even in the 30-50 year old range  support is growing as well. Look at the unemployment and under-employment rates among these groups and you can see the cracks in the facade of capitalism forming and growing.

People are getting tired of the stresses of capitalism and want something different. They are reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, and the many inspired additions to it. They are reading Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA and liking what they see.

We are approaching the Rubicon. Socialist ideas are being introduced and no matter how hard the media tries to ignore them, they keep leaking out. People are seeking out socialist writings and reading them on their own. The Internet, e-readers, and independent book shops are helping them get what they want – something different.  Something better.

Chicken Little is starting to scream “The sky is falling” again. And the people are saying “No. We remember the past.  And it's not worth the price .”

It's time for some socialist action. 

 

Let's go. 

We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Solar City's Aspirations

I waited a week before writing this because I wanted to see what the Buffalo media would say about the Solar City Protests.

Not enough.

The background: Governor Andrew “Status Cuomo” created the “Buffalo Billion” project – basically $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to bribe corporations to set up shop in WNY.  And then give them 10 years of "tax breaks" (taxpayers footing the bill for private profits that leave the state). 

Solar City took his offer of taxpayers footing the tax bill for the building of the Riverbend “Solar City” plant.

During the announcement of the plant “Status Cuomo,'” Mayor Brown, and the project managers promised that 25% of the workers hired would be minorities and women. The audits show otherwise. Just over 16% of the workers have been minorities and barely over 5.5% of the workers have been female.

The construction firm states that by using the law of averages that they have met the 25% goal. When that explanation fell flat, the goals became “aspirational.”

That's what capitalism does – It makes it's own definitions and rules so that no matter how much it fails to meet its promises, it did because they can change the rules to suit their purposes. If you average out the number of hours worked, they “met the goal.” If you don't buy that, then, well, you know, we'll just change the definition of success behind your back.

Capitalism and its empty promises.  It aspires to full employment.  It aspires to make everyone wealthy.  It aspires to provide good benefits and safe working conditions.  It all depends upon how you define "aspires."

Take #2: From reading the articles, I noticed it was the construction bosses and the union leaders against the African-Americans and women. It's the old “divide and conquer” the working class against itself trick. Put the unions against the non-unionized and let them fight it out.

There's a simple solution to that – unions need to open their doors more to the minorities and women. Reach out to the unemployed.  Build a united front against the bosses. In an era of declining union membership, and the resulting weakness that goes with it, it only makes sense for the unions to reach out and recruit the non-unionized.

Take #3: BUILD of Buffalo is right to monitor the hiring practices. But wouldn't it be better to use the “Buffalo Billions” to start up a solar manufacturing plant that would be headquartered in Buffalo? Owned by the people of Buffalo? Right now the profits from the company are leaving NYS. If the plant were owned by the people of Buffalo, or by the workers via a co-op, the profits would stay here, be spent here, and build up the economy right here in Buffalo and Erie County.

Take #4: And the medias' coverage of this was lame, to say the least. But look at who owns the media and you'll understand why. We need a worker's media – newspaper and TV/radio programs so that people get the worker's perspective.

The more I think about this, the different I see it.