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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez |
:: Thursday, April 02, 2009 ::
:: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 ::the archives remain, no new posts after today------------------------------------------- posted 7:41 AM :: reference link ::
:: Monday, March 16, 2009 ::Labor issues hit home: my home - By Steve Duin, OregonLive.com
The number of Latinos in residential construction is on the increase -- they filled two out of every three new U.S. jobs in 2006, according to the Pew Hispanic Center -- and the number of Caucasian teenagers looking for a job that doesn't involve a college degree and a laptop is on the wane.
Too many people still believe minority workers are bringing down wages because they're so desperate to work, as if a commitment to long hours and a better world for our children is a character flaw.
Peace on this issue, like a new kitchen, won't come cheap.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 12, 2009 ::State is seeking the modern Rosie the Riveter - By Susan Abram, LA Daily News
Retirements of existing workers loom just as federal stimulus money to repair the state's roads and highways, levies and dams, schools and government buildings, becomes available in the next few years.
That means the supply of carpenters, iron workers, equipment operators and masons won't meet the demand unless 200,000 apprentices are in the pipeline.
So a state campaign called ibuiltit.org has aimed its message at mothers, daughters and sisters, hoping to boost the 4 percent share women now have in California construction.
World War II gave the nation Rosie the Riveter. So why, some ask, can't the 21st century have Bridget the Bridge Builder?
'We wanted to target women because the building construction trade is a viable career,' said Renee Bacchini, assistant to the chief at the Division of Apprenticeship Standards in the Department of Industrial Relations.-------------------------------------------
Families emote, labor mobilizes - By Alexandra Berzon, Las Vegas Sun
Last week Nevada chief administrative officer Tom Czehowski said that in some cases citations were deleted because inspections were problematic, and in other cases because the employer promised to improve safety. OSHA attorney John Wiles had said “nothing inappropriate” occurred during the Orleans investigation.
Czehowski has said the department has difficulty retaining qualified inspectors because it cannot compete with private sector salaries.
Ross suggested a solution.
“Over the past few years, we believe that budget items concerning safety have been underfunded,” he said. “But we can’t help but think that if Nevada OSHA would enforce its fines more vigorously, then they would have more money.”-------------------------------------------
:: Saturday, March 07, 2009 ::Unions react as Madoff goes to jail - WSTM NBC3
How much did the carpenter's union lose?
"I heard 15 percent but I know it’s going to take many months to go through the financial figures," Brady said.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, March 05, 2009 ::Perini seeks union givebacks - By Liz Benston, Alexandra Berzon, Las Vegas Sun
In meetings Thursday, Perini Chief Executive Craig Shaw and top executives of the CityCenter and Cosmopolitan projects asked for $2-an-hour wage decreases from about 11,000 trades members on those jobs, say sources involved in the discussion who did not want to be identified because the meetings were confidential.
Perini met in separate sessions with Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council leaders and officials of the local carpenters and operating engineers unions.
In addition to wage concessions, Perini asked both groups to give up raises of about $1.75 to $3 an hour set to take effect over the summer for many trades. They also asked that workers stop taking 15-minute breaks in the mornings, sources said.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 ::How an entire generation of carpenters has been blighted by asbestos cancer - Killer Dust - Asbestos campaign - By Mike Swain, Mirror.co.uk
Professor Peto added: 'Our main conclusion is that end-user exposure to brown asbestos is a major cause of the extraordinary rate of mesothelioma in British men born in the 40s.
'You can see people in the national statistics who were carpenters when they were 65 whereas what matters is if they were carpenters when they were in their 20s. In our study 21 per cent had been carpenters at some time.'
Steve Coldrick, of the Health and Safety Executive which commissioned the study, added: 'It makes very grim reading for people in these occupations who will end up with this dreadful disease. Our lungs weren't intended to be vacuum cleaners.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, March 02, 2009 ::THE DUST OF DEATH - By Emily Cook And Mark Swain, mirror.co.uk
The horror of one of Britain's deadliest imports is about to be unleashed on those unwittingly exposed to its dangers.
Deaths from asbestos-related diseases could reach at least 200,000 - and many of the victims will not even be aware they are at risk until it is too late.
The shocking figures are the grim legacy of the millions of tons of the dust shipped to Britain to make homes, schools, offices and factories fire resistant.
Among those most at risk are carpenters, laggers, plumbers and electricians who worked on building sites around the country.
It is predicted more than 2,000 people a year will die from mesothelioma alone - a lung cancer caused by asbestos. Adding deaths from asbestos-related lung cancer and asbestosis, annual fatalities could reach 6,000.
One expert branded the rising number of deaths a 'silent and working class epidemic' because of the nature of who it affects most.
The Daily Mirror today launches a campaign for those struck down by the killer dust.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, February 25, 2009 ::Web video of workers starts Dept. of Labor and Industries probe - By Lornet Turnbull, Seattle Times
A YouTube video is playing a key role in state and federal cases against the concrete contractor of a $1 billion upscale urban village going up along Tacoma's Commencement Bay.
On the video, three Spanish-speaking workers — their faces concealed — tell of being given ID badges that belonged to other Latino workers who had been trained on how to protect themselves while working in potentially contaminated soils of the sprawling Point Ruston construction site.
The three on the video say they had not received the training but were told by their supervisors at Rain City Contractors to use the badges anyway.
State and federal labor officials say it is the first time an Internet video has triggered and played such a key role in local investigations into work-site complaints.-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 ::7700 posts later... It's been a good run since Feb. 25, 2003 but there are so many good news sites and safety blogs available now that anything offered here is easily located elsewhere. The odd safety news items or something ironic about construction might show up periodically, but rawblogxport is no longer a daily blog.
fraternally, dave livingston, carpenters local 2300 canada-------------------------------------------
Women in Construction Week to be Celebrated Across the United States - news release, Sisters In The Brotherhood
Women in Construction (WIC) Week will be celebrated March 1-7 by more than 100 chapters of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). NAWIC exists to enhance the success of women in the construction industry.
WIC Week provides a unified time for more than 5,500 NAWIC members to raise awareness of the opportunities the construction industry holds for potential employees and to highlight women as a visible, growing force in the industry.
Construction presents one of the few growing, well-paying careers in the United States that hires from high-school graduates to Ph.D.s
Women can build a career in the construction industry and advance by continuing their education. The emerging trend is women starting their own companies.-------------------------------------------
:: Monday, February 23, 2009 ::-------------------------------------------
:: Friday, February 20, 2009 ::Prosecutor: Mine collapse was 'perfect' disaster - By PAUL FOY, BusinessWeek
A federal prosecutor looking into the collapse of a Utah mine said the operator was struggling to meet production quotas and was aggressively taking the last of the coal inside a slowly crumbling mountain -- all 'recipes for a disaster.'
U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said that even if he finds evidence of negligence at Crandall Canyon, it might not be enough to warrant criminal charges -- and he wasn't inclined to prosecute 'bad business' practices, either. He said he was still looking deeper for evidence that could be brought before a grand jury.-------------------------------------------
:: Thursday, February 19, 2009 ::Simple method strengthens schools, other buildings against earthquakes - Writer: Emil Venere, Purdue News Service
The flaw is widespread in China, Latin America, Turkey and other countries. The buildings have too many 'partial-height' walls between structural columns and could be easily strengthened by replacing some windows with ordinary masonry bricks, said Santiago Pujol, an assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue.
Partial-height walls do not extend all the way to the ceiling, sometimes causing structural columns to fail during powerful quakes. The strengthening would not only be low-cost but also easy to install, Pujol said.-------------------------------------------
:: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 ::LaborTalk: My Response to a Personal Attack By the Head of the Georgia AFL-CIO - LaborTalk by Harry Kelber
On February 13, I received the following e-mail from Charlie Key, president of the Georgia AFL-CIO, to an article I had written about 'Heavy Pension Losses.' I am posting Key's e-mail in its complete, unedited version, after which I will respond.
Key wrote:
'Harry last I heard you were not even a union member so quit whining about rights. All the information you are whining about is available though to members and non-members alike. So instead of whining like so many other free riders, why don't you get off your ass and do the research on the questions you raised. And without doing the same kind of research the AFL-CIO and CTW don't have the information you speak of and if you know as much as you pretend to you would know that.'
--Charlie Key, President of the Georgia AFL-CIO
blog note: when I emailed Charlie Key to demand an apology to Harry, Charlie told me to go to hell. His email address is cekey@bellsouth.net-------------------------------------------
:: Tuesday, February 17, 2009 ::Fear and Grouting In New York - by Eliot Brown, New York Observer
The level of construction in New York is soon to drop off a cliff, a plunge that will leave many a contractor and union member desperate for work. While construction is still at relatively high levels as projects move toward completion, the economic collapse and accompanying credit freeze has dried up the once plentiful well of new work, as even those developers still willing to build apartment towers cannot find banks willing to lend.
“If you talk to the major general contractors and construction managers today,” said Ray Quartararo, a director at Jones Lang LaSalle, “most of them are O.K. through the majority of 2009; 2010 is when they really have a problem because they don’t have backlog.”
All corners of the industry are eager to see work continue, so numerous groups have come together to hone in on one main factor that is within their control: the cost of labor."-------------------------------------------
talk about the condensed version!
How To Install Fiber Cement Siding - Reader's Digest
"Cutting fiber cement siding raises a lot of silica dust, so work outside and wear a dust mask."-------------------------------------------
Kitty Litter - I Don't Do Grocery!
One of the biggest dangers to your cat’s – and the rest of your family’s – health can be found in the litter box.
=========
Some low quality clay litters contain crystalline silica dust, which is not biodegradable and is said to be cancer-causing. Crystalline silica can accumulate in your cat’s lungs over time which can result in a condition called silicosis, causing shortness of breath and reduced lung capacity.-------------------------------------------
unions: the folks that brought you the weekend
