Pictured Above: WNYLaborToday.com has received a great response on its recently-published story involving Unionized Workers at Crawford of Jamestown’s furniture plant in the Southern Tier, as well as inquiries for further information on a 20% discount the company is offering to Union Members across Western New York on the purchase of any of their many lines of high-quality, American, Locally and Union-made furniture products.  As such, WNYLaborToday.com is publishing a one-page flier the company and IUE-CWA Local 81045 is making available to local Unions and their members.  For more information, contact local Crawford Furniture Representative Tom Wilson at 716-833-2311. 

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

A quick announcement from Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association Local 282: The Union will remember their fallen comrades - Lt. Charles “Chip” McCarthy and Firefighter Jonathan Croom, who both lost their lives battling an East Side fire last August – during a celebratory mass that will be held on Tuesday, August 24th at 8:30 a.m. at St. Joseph’s University Church, which is located at 3269 Main Street, near Winspear in Buffalo.  Following the mass, there will be two individual remembrance events held, one at 10 a.m. at Rescue 1 at 1229 Jefferson, and another at Ladder 7 at 2837 at 11 a.m.  For further information, contact Local 282 and President Dan Cunningham at 716-856-4130.

Last week WNYLaborToday.com detailed the problems that CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 1122 is having with State Senator George Maziarz, whom the Union charges is personally blocking an advantageous consumer/worker bill from coming before a committee he chairs in Albany.  In fact, Maziarz - a Republican who has received endorsements for his re-election campaign from a number of Labor Unions and Organizations - has given CWA Local 1122 at least three different explanations as to why he will not back The Merger and Line Sale Bill (S.7263/A.2208) in the Senate – which has already been passed by the Assembly.  The bill was crafted to strengthen consumer and worker protections in the event of a telecom merger or line sale should Verizon either sell its network or merge it with another company.  “Maziarz (who is chair of the Senate’s State Energy and Telecommunications Committee), has total authority and he is just not opposing it, he won’t put it up for a vote in his committee.  He is doing everything he can to stop it,” a frustrated and angry Wagner told WNYLaborToday.com.  Then, just a day or so later – WNYLaborToday.com turned on the TV to watch the 6 o’clock news, only to see Senator Maziarz standing there - right up front - in an announcement made by the Niagara County Republican Committee that it had switched its allegiance from Rick Lazio to Republican & Tea Party Gubernatorial Candidate Carl Paladino – whose anti-worker/anti-Union track record precedes him.  In fact, in last Sunday’s Labor Column, WNYLaborToday.com called to our readers’ attention an e-mail that was sent out by Paladino after the Bass Pro charade (which finally came to an end after nine years), which referred to area Labor Leaders as Union Cronies and attacked Prevailing Wages, the Wicks Law, and Community Benefit Agreements – all measures that support Working People, both Union and non.  So here we are, watching Maziarz - who’s telling the world what a great guy Paladino is and stating how Paladino’s the guy that we all need to bring change to Albany and how he has decided to support Paladino for governor.  At one point, Paladino got very chummy with Maziarz in the TV news report and put his arm around the State Senator - who represents the 62nd State Senate District, which covers all of Niagara County outside the City of Niagara Falls, all of Orleans County and the western portion of Monroe County - to show how pleased he was that Maziarz had come aboard to back his campaign.  Maziarz’s move, meanwhile, more than likely has gotten more than a couple of representatives from Organized Labor scratching their heads on this one, especially when this elected official has received numerous Labor endorsements in his re-election run – from the Niagara County Building & Construction Trades Council right up the line to the Western New York Chapter of the Working Families Party and the New York State AFL-CIO.  In fact - can you believe this?  Hey George, did you conveniently forget you’ve received those endorsements from so many Labor Organizations and their leadership - whom Paladino refers to as Union Cronies?  Now you’re lining up next to him and telling Western New York that he’s the guy to bring about change in Albany?  CWA Local 1122 tells WNYLaborToday.com the Union will not be endorsing Maziarz because, as President Wagner said: “(Any elected representative) earns our support.  He should be supporting the interests of the people and not companies.  (CWA) has no problem supporting those who support the best interests of Working Men and Women.  But they should remember, it’s not a given.”  With Maziarz’s high-profile endorsement of Paladino, the question is – how many other Labor Unions will now think twice about either endorsing Maziarz or withdrawing their endorsement in light of his decision to back Paladino?  Oh, by the way, Paladino put his foot back into his mouth the other day when Carl said he would transform some New York prisons into dormitories for welfare recipients, where they could work in state-sponsored jobs, get employment training and take lessons in "personal hygiene" – as reported by the Associated Press.  As the dust continues to settle, it truly is a problem for all Working People when anyone they support says one thing and then turns around and does the other.  While everyone can agree that to get things done, we all must work together – very public decisions like the one Maziarz is making must be discussed and addressed by those who will be impacted.  As CWA Local 1122’s Wagner said, Maziarz “should be supporting the best interests” of Working People.  More importantly, it appears Maziarz needs to have that fact impressed upon him by Organized Labor, which can’t be too happy about these two new series of events.

And speaking of CWA Local 1122, President Wagner traveled to Chicago last week to meet with a coalition of Labor Unions that are involved in a Labor Dispute and have contract problems with the American Red Cross’ Blood Division.  Representatives from the CWA, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees), AFT (American Federation of Teachers), OPEIU (Office and Professional Employees International Union), UAW (United Auto Workers) and USW (United Steel Workers) - as well as several unaffiliated Unions, including the Teamsters, UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers) and the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) - who, combined, represent as many as 1,200 Red Cross workers in various sectors of the U.S. - have banded together in a campaign for Workers’ Rights at the Red Cross’s Blood Division.  Upon his return to Western New York, Wagner told WNYLaborToday.com while much was discussed in terms of possible and additional steps, a yet-to-be decided game plan could involve additional work stoppages in the future.  However, nothing of that ilk was decided upon during last week’s meeting in Chicago.  Look for an update in the coming weeks as summer comes to an end.

Striking Mott’s Workers in Williamson, New York got a big boost during the week when The New York Times published a favorable story on the 13-week-old Labor dispute, which WNYLaborToday.com recently focused a spotlight on during a trip to the Wayne County plant.  And – on bnet.com (The CBS News Interactive Business Network), Columnist Geoffrey James wrote a piece (http://www.bnet.com/blog/salesmachine/dr-pepper-snapple-has-banner-year-then-cuts-workers-pay/11548) that slammed Dr. Pepper/Snapple/Mott’s and its CEO Larry Young for the stance the company’s taken against its Unionized Workforce in Williamson – where it’s looking to cut hourly wages by $1.50 and reduce health care and pension benefits, while at the same time the company made $555 million in profit in 2009 and Young is compensated more than $6 million.  It would appear the strike, which enters its 14th week this week, is getting more and more support – which is a very good thing.  This strike has become the latest poster child for Corporate Greed in this country and Dr. Pepper/Snapple/Mott’s should be held responsible for what it’s trying to do to its workers, which incidentally helped it gain and enjoy its $555 million in profit in 2009.  By the way, the two-part WNYLaborToday.com Labor Video News Reports that Your Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper recently posted on our website, in addition to our YouTube page, is nearing the 1,000 view mark.  If you haven’t watched them as yet, take time to do so.  WNYLaborToday.com thinks you’ll be impressed how eloquently the Mott’s Workers make their case against Dr. Pepper/Snapple/Mott’s, whose products Organized Labor is asking the general public not to patronize until the company comes to a fair and equitable contract with its RWDSU (Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Workers)/UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers)-Represented Workers.

On that note, the nearly 1,000 views those two Labor News Video Reports on the Mott’s Strike that WNYLaborToday.com has registered on its YouTube page shows the emerging importance of this new social network media vehicle.  It also underscores the importance of the fact that Organized Labor must take full advantage of this and other social networking vehicles to communicate, educate and inform its membership – as well as communicate with other Labor Unions and Organizations.  I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read a Guest Labor Column by Heather Stefan of NewLaborMedia.com that is currently showcased within WNYLaborToday.com’s Young Union Section on our Front Page that’s headlined, Why Labor Unions Aren’t Using Social Media.  Not only is it a good read for all Union Leaders across Western New York, it’s WNYLaborToday.com’s hope that it inspires any Labor Organization that has yet to fully embrace and take advantage of not only facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but the Internet and an updated website, as well as texting messages to its membership, to do so.  WNYLaborToday.com would not have had nearly 1,000 views of its Mott’s Labor News Video Reports in just one week if it weren’t on YouTube, which helped carry that story and message of those workers that much further.  Again, it’s our hope more Labor Organizations and Unions begin doing so, in addition to reaching out and further involving its young membership in not only your Union, but the entire Labor Movement in the weeks, months and years to come.