News, Notes & Observations collected while covering the Western New York Labor Community over the past several days:

Last week was indeed a very busy week for WNYLaborToday.com, which hit the road and traveled to Williamson, New York – just outside Rochester – to interview striking RWDSU (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers)/UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers) Local 220 Workers at the Dr. Pepper/Snapple-owned Mott’s plant and then down to Jamestown and Dunkirk.  In Jamestown, WNYLaborToday.com sat down with the Union Leadership at IUE (International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers)-CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 81045, which represents the workforce at Crawford Furniture, before heading over to talk with Union Representatives at IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Local 106.  While Crawford Furniture heavily advertises the fact its furniture is made locally and is also American-made, many may not realize that it is also Union-made.  WNYLaborToday.com plans to publish a story later this week that will not only provide further insight on that fact, but make our Union viewers/readers aware of how they can save 20% when purchasing a Crawford-made furniture product.  Meanwhile, WNYLaborToday.com will also make our viewers/readers aware of IBEW Local 106’s investment of $1.5 million into a newly-constructed and Union-built Green Headquarters – compete with several large solar cells on its roof to generate electricity in a unique and first-of-its-kind agreement with the City of Jamestown (which we’ll also report on later this week).  In Dunkirk, WNYLaborToday.com took time to sit down with Dunkirk AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Doug Stock, who shared some good news – a piece of Western New York Labor History, the Council’s original charter that was signed in 1959 and was thought lost in Dunkirk’s Masonic Temple Building fire earlier this year - has been recovered intact and with little damage.  More on that story later today on WNYLaborToday.com.

Speaking of the Mott’s Williamson Strike, WNYLaborToday.com took its Labor News Video Crew to report on the status of what is now a 13-week-long strike over wages and benefits.  However, the strike has placed the RWDSU-UFCW-Represented Workers and Dr. Pepper/Snapple/Mott’s directly in a National spotlight and made it the current poster child for Corporate Greed in this country.  Last week, WNYLaborToday.com posted a two-part Labor News Video Report on the RWDSU/UFCW Mott’s Strike on Your Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper and on WNYLaborToday.com’s YouTube page.  In just 48 hours, the two videos had more than 300 views.  Checking its status today, that number has increased to 525.  Amazingly, it shows the power and reach of not only the Internet, but the importance of plugging into such social networking sites as YouTube and facebook - where initial news of the videos were posted on WNYLaborToday.com’s fan page.  Response was swift as a number of Labor Organizations from coast-to-coast who were already on facebook took full advantage of what it offers and posted information and direct links on our videos for all to see.  During this process, I received a note from Heather Stefan of NewLaborMedia.com – which serves as The Labor Union Guide to Social Media.  According to information posted on its website, NewLaborMedia.com is “for you, Labor Leaders, particularly at the local Union level, who do not yet understand the impact new media and social networking can have on your public image and communication abilities.  This is a series of suggestions and guidance for you (perhaps even some "aha" moments as well) to begin taking small steps towards feeling more comfortable with using the power of the internet to work positively for your Labor Organization.”  Ms. Stefan is graciously submitting a guest column to WNYLaborToday.com that spells out the Top Ten List of Reasons Why Unions Aren’t Using Social Media – which we hope Western New York Labor Leaders will take a moment to read and if they are not as yet taking advantage of facebook, Twitter or YouTube, why they should be.  Her offering will be published early this week.  On that same note, WNYLaborToday.com has taken full advantage of what these many social networking sites offer, especially in light of the fact that it is Young Unionists who are using these communications vehicles of choice.  If Organized Labor is going to effectively communicate its message and reach millions of individuals – many of whom have no idea what a Union is or what the Labor Movement is all about – this is one way to successfully accomplish that goal.  And, for those who have not as yet grasped this amazing opportunity – you must do so and do so now.  Wasting any more time with excuses and failing to realize how important this is to any Union Organization is more than a serious lapse in judgment.  More importantly, as Ms. Stefan will point out, it can become more than a serious mistake. 

I don’t know about you, but it must be driving Union Ironworkers represented by Ironworkers Local 6 out in West Seneca crazy every time some misinformed news anchor or reporter refers to them as Steelworkers.  I happened again last week when Buffalo native Patrick Kane brought the legendary Stanley Cup home to celebrate.  What a great photo it was, Kane – of the National Hockey League (NHL) Chicago Blackhawks (who scored the overtime goal/winner to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL Finals) – holding the cup up over his head with a number of Local 6 Ironworkers down at Buffalo General Hospital’s new Heart Vascular Building construction project.  However, if you're a Local 6 Ironworker, you had to cringe when you heard yourself being described as a Steelworker.  So – for the local media and for the record: Steelworkers make steel, Ironworker erect steel beams and girders.  Let’s get it right.  Thank You!

I just can’t believe the number of Carl Paladino signs that are sprouting up in front of homes in Buffalo’s suburban community of Lancaster.  Paladino, which this Sunday Labor Column has written about numerous times in past weeks, is proud to tell anyone who listens that he is an “everyday guy” who will look out for and fight for “regular people” if he wins the race for the governor’s office.  But Paladino calling himself an “everyday guy” is more than misleading.  It’s downright sickening.  Just ask those in the Unionized Building Trades about alleged worksite safety problems and violations on developer Paladino’s local projects, as well as the fact that he does not choose to pay his construction workers a decent Living Wage.  Case in point, WNYMedia.net– which does a good job of covering the Western New York political community – published the following e-mail it received from Paladino after Bass Pro announced (after nine years of waiting) that it was not going to come to Buffalo and serve as an anchor to waterfront development.  If anyone is interested, the entire e-mail can be viewed on WNYMedia.net, but what interested WNYLaborToday.com today was what Paladino had to say about Labor Unions, Construction Workers and “everyday” Working People - who would be employed by any retailer who does wind up down on the waterfront.  Since we reprinted his e-mail verbatim, WNYLaborToday.com will leave it up to Carl to apologize for the fact he cannot spell.  Here’s what Carl had to say (in part):

The misery (Bass Pro President) Johnny Morris and Bass Pro have had to go through throughout the process was paralyzing.  First was the Project Labor Agreement (PLA), an illegal (agree or we picket the job) intrusion by trade union leaders into what elsewhere would be an open shop project.  A PLA requires that all contractors be union, allowing them and their crony union leaders to increase project costs 35 percent.  Finally came the Community Benefit Agreement.  (Buffalo Councilman Michael) LoCurto and (U.S. Congressman Brian) Higgins – our liberal, progressive, arrogant, and elitist congressman – want prospective tenants of Canal Place to pay their employees $3.00 more per hour as a so-called “living wage.” Why would a business agree to be uncompetitive? Does competitor Gander Mountain pay $3.00 more hourly? I don’t think so.  Bass Pro is building in Illinois and in Tennessee where they don’t have PLAs, prevailing wages, Wick’s Law, Community Benefit Agreements, or obstructionists. Earning profits is acceptable there. Our community has failed on the watch of the obstructionists, yet we continue to listen to them as though they preach gospel. It simply makes no sense.  Enough is enough. Johnny Morris deserves an apology from Higgins and the business community must organize and bring Bass Pro back to the table.

All this came from Carl, who has made a more-than-good living by renting out his available office space across Western New York to New York State Government over the years.  No matter to Carl that Bass Pro would have received $35 million in taxpayer subsidies to come here and – as Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Michael Hoffert said: “Sell Chinese-made fishing lures.”  If not for those who finally put their foot down after nine years of charades and said “make up your mind” for the final time, and for those who stepped forward to ensure those Western New Yorkers who are employed in retail businesses and receive that kind of taxpayer subsidies (from you and me) are obligated to pay a decent Living Wage – Working People would have taken it up the backside again, courtesy of people like Carl Paladino, who unashamedly says he's an “everyday guy.”  It is WNYLaborToday.com’s hope that Organized Labor not only continues to make its members aware of Carl’s stance when it comes to Working People, but every Middle Class and Working Poor individual in New York State who will head into the voting booth this Fall.  Not only is his candidacy ridiculous, it slams those who he pledges to represent – if elected.  It’s OK to be mad and unhappy with what’s going on in State Government these days.  We can all agree that there's much that needs to be changed.  But electing an individual such as Paladino, who's trying to pull the wool over our eyes, is a mistake.  So, for those who have his campaign signs in their front yards – you really need to take a moment to sidestep the rhetoric and learn for yourself what this guy is really about and what he’s historically done to the people whom he now says he will champion.  There is still time.  You just might be surprised by what you learn.

WNYLaborToday.com wishes to extend our condolences to the family of Art Lamb, who recently passed away.  Lamb was a 52-year member of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 17, and largely responsible for the sterling Training and Apprenticeship Training Programs that are offered by the road construction Union based in Lakeview.  The 84-year-old Lamb is fondly remembered by current IUOE Local 17 Training Director James Smolinski – who praised Lamb for his dedication and efforts over the years, which Smolinski said brought about a number of top-notch training programs that make Local 17’s members some of the best-trained and job-ready workers in all of the Unionized Construction Field across Western New York.  On that note, Lamb will be remembered by many in the local Union Movement and his efforts never forgotten.

And finally, have you seen WNYLaborToday.com’s ads that are now appearing on a brand new digital billboard that’s been put up on Cherry Street as you drive into Downtown Buffalo on Route 33?  If not, keep an eye out for them.  They look great and the initial feedback to WNYLaborToday.com has been very good.  We’ve got three more billboards getting ready to carry the same message of WNYLaborToday.com celebrating our third year of covering the Western New York Labor Community – as well as making everyone aware of our Union Mall, an A to Z listing of Union-Represented Products and Services, Union-Friendly Products and Services and Locally-made and American-made products – in Downtown Buffalo, Niagara Falls and in the Southtowns.  Let us know what you think when you get a moment.