Show archives

Saturday at One. The Annual CWA Hockey Red/White Scrimmage is this Saturday, April 13th at 1 pm at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale Long Island.. Free Admission at 12 noon followed by a tailgate party. BBQ food will be served at 2:30 pm up until the Rangers / Islanders game at 7 pm. All are welcome. A Blood Drive is scheduled for 10 am to 4 pm in the lower lobby.

Saturday at Three. The Nassau PBA is hosting a benefit for 2 of its members they lost last year. On Saturday, April 13th at 3 pm at The Sands Atlantic Beach. Tickets are $40, food, drink, DJ & Raffle items. You can get tickets at the door or mail a check made out to "Hero Memorial Benefit", 89 East Jericho Tpke in Mineola 11501. UCOMM Radio's Brian Schneck and Ryan Birch will be there taking shots for ucommradio.com so come help raise money for the Lopez and Oliveri families.

We're Two. So time for a new song. We forgot to celebrate but UCOMM Radio just celebrated our second birthday. Hooray! So we thought it's time for a new intro song. If anyone has a good suggestion, email your pitch at feedback@ucommradio.com. Much respect to Spoon's Underdog but it's time to change it up and try on the big boy pants.

Labor Unions: America's Last Hope. Yes, union jobs offer about 15-percent higher wages and benefits, and yes, union safety programs are infinitely superior to non-union programs, and these by themselves are tremendous advantages to becoming a union member. But a union also offers something less tangible. A union contract provides an employee with dignity -- with the right to come to work and be treated with respect. And that is no small thing. If anyone is able to name another institution that can provide America's working class with the built-in dignity and economic advantages a union can, I'd love to hear it, because it ain't the federal government and it ain't philanthropic organizations. This is all about resistance. Without resistance, workers have no leverage. Without labor unions, the bullies will continue to win. Read David Macaray's entire article at huffingtonpost.com

Workers Memorial Mass Workers Memorial Mass. Monday, April 29th at 5:30 pm at St. Patrick's Church in Bay Shore, NY 11706. Reception to follow. Please bring your hardhat /uniform/ work gear for a blessing.

Fast Food Nation. Acting US Secretary of Labor Seth Harris was in Philadelphia on Valentine’s Day to discuss the president's plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $9. Harris met with workers from the fast food sector. The workers shared their stories of sacrifice and hardship, and emphasized that no one who works full-time should have to raise a family in poverty. The president's plan will boost wages for about 15 million American workers. In New Jersey, the State Assembly passed SCR-1 which increases the minimum wage to $8.25 and includes the COLA. In the Empire State, the Assembly once again is at the forefront with legislation that mirrors the President’s State of the Union proposal. For somebody who works a forty-hour week, and earns the minimum wage of $7.25, their annual salary is $15,080 a year. Chubby New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who already vetoed an increase in minimum wage, spends over $15,080 a year on donuts and cheeseburgers.
Freeze this NIFA. The Nassau Interim Finance Authority – which is charged with running the Nassau County government because nobody has a clue what they are doing, was ordered by a Federal judge to lift a wage freeze imposed on the County workforce. County employees have been suffering under the NIFA imposed wage freeze since March of 2011. Since March 2011, Nassau County hired 113 full-time and 28 part-time and seasonal workers, at a cost of more than $7 million. They include two $70,000-a-year special assistants for the county executive and his staff, a $65,000 community service representative for the traffic violations bureau and 17 new full-time political hacks at the county Board of Elections.
Congress went home. Tens of thousands of working people called their member of Congress on St. Valentine’s Day to urge the overpaid and underworked shills of 1% to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from benefit cuts by repealing the “sequester” and close loopholes for Wall Street and the wealthiest 2% of Americans. These calls must have fell on deaf ears because Congress went home. SO if you see your member of Congress out and about – tell them to get their asses back to Washington, they have work to do!
Edith’s in heaven. The founder of the Flight Attendants Union, Edith Lauterbach, died at 91 years old on February 4th. Lauterbach fought for non-discriminatory hiring, job security, regulations in the airline industry over a long-standing career beginning in 1944.
Did you read the New York Times? The article was titled “At Cablevision, Norma Rae’s Benn Escorted Out.” Michael Powell wrote; Cablevision takes pride in its open-door policy for employees. So two weeks ago, a tight-knit band of cable television installers gathered at a company depot in Canarsie, Brooklyn, to pick up route sheets and put ladders and tools in their vans. Then they trooped inside to ask a vice president for a few minutes of his time.{ } They wanted to ask the vice president if Cablevision was serious about a contract agreement, or if it wanted only to break their union. They waited for 20 minutes to talk, then 20 more. Then the vice president walked in { } “Ladies and gentlemen I am sorry to tell you that you’ve all been permanently replaced.” Read the entire story. Newsday is refusing to report the full story, ask them why at letters@newsday.com

Mayor Mike Sucks. The NYS AFL-CIO released a statement about the NYC School Bus Strike, it reads: "Once again, the Mayor has failed New York City school children. First, he threw the lives of children and their parents in turmoil through his unwillingness to include critical safeguards in school bus bids, and now as the teacher evaluation agreement falls apart, he is costing City schools millions of dollars in desperately needed aid. The Mayor is displaying a shocking inability to lead, and children are paying the price. As much as he may try to distance himself from the strike or compare teachers to the NRA in order to distract from his failures, the simple truth is New York City voters elected him to get things done, and clearly he is not delivering." Watch this video on ucommradio.com and text SAFETY1ST to 878787 to stay in the loop on this issue.

Well put Charlie. The NJ AFL-CIO's Charles Wowkanech put this out about MLK Day and is worth a read; " Dr. King's dream is a challenge to our country to live up to its potential. He dismissed the notion that failure was even an option. He also realized that in order to move forward, our country needs to be unified. These lessons are timeless and remain critical to our progress as a nation. Our work's not done. Let us carry on the legacy of Dr. King together."

Did you see the new corvette! At the 2013 North American International Auto Show, it's all about cars, drivers, an accelerating industry and a jobs renaissance. US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis traveled to Detroit for the show, where she was joined by Bob King, president of United Auto Workers, and met UAW members who built the cars on display. Several of those UAW members have credited the Obama administration's efforts to rescue the Big Three automakers as well as its strong emphasis on in-sourcing manufacturing as essential to bolstering their jobs and the industry. During the tour, Solis saw the latest products and technology being introduced by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler and also had an opportunity to test drive a new Chevy Volt. UCOMM Communication's web designer Ryan Birch drives the Chevy Volt.

Just in from the White House and a great thing to do with your kids. On Saturday, Jan. 19th, President Obama and the First Lady, will be taking part in an event that's become a tradition -- a National Day of Service on the weekend of Martin Luther King Day to celebrate Dr. King's legacy. No matter where you are in America, you have an opportunity to join this effort and serve your community. The Presidential Inaugural Committee has helped to organize events all over the country. Visit their site to find a service opportunity near you.

Making Progress. The AFL-CIO recently sent out a communication saying we have momentum on the Senate Filibuster Rules Reform issue. If you haven't done so, now is the perfect time to call a staffer down in DC to urge them to tell their boss to get their shit together. Learn more and call now 1-877-782-8274.

Join Team UCOMM. ucommblog.com is looking for contributing writers, reporters and columnist to join the team. Please send your writing samples to feedback@ucommradio.com and we will plug you into the details. All professions and industries welcome. The launch date is coming...sometime soon, we think.

It's not too late! IBEW 1049, the men and woman at National Grid on Long Island, are organizing a Toy and Food Drive. Toys will be distributed to kids in areas hit hard by Sandy. All are welcome to give, go to ibew1049.org/ToyandFoodDrive for details. 1049 will be delivering the massive amounts of toys next week and UCOMM Radio will be there to witness God's work. Good job 1049!

An amazin' socially conscience resource. Check out this Made in America, union-made gift guide. Some highlights from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's resource site, Labor411.org include quality products like Apparel and Accessories, Toys, Sporting Equipment and Wine & Beer. UCOMM Radio's official beer is Miller Highlife - just in case your wondering what to get us for Christmas. See the entire list here.

Nice work Alvin. It is rare that we read something we agree with in Cablevision Corp's Newsday, but this very accurate column by Newsday Editorial Board member Alvin Bessent hit the nail right on the head on the consequences of the Right to Work for Less law recently passed in Michigan. It's titled: Bad news for unions is bad news for workers. The article was read and tweeted out by the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka too; @RichTrunka Reading - Bessent: Michigan's union news is bad news for middle classhttp://bit.ly/QX0hl5

FEMA extends deadline.. in New York from December 31, 2012 to January 28, 2013. Assistance for individuals and families can include money for rental assistance, essential home repairs, personal property losses and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance. Residents in the following counties are eligible for assistance: Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Richmond, Rockland, Westchester, Suffolk, Queens, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster.

Individuals can register online at disasterassistance.gov.

ucommblog.com is coming to town. We are looking for columnist and advertisers. It is poetry in motion folks and is our next project that is bound to get us sued sooner or later, inquire at feedback@ucommradio.com