Hired Truck II - Union Busting
- About 60 recently laid-off Chicago truck drivers picketed Friday at a city facility on the South Side, protesting that politically connected private companies are now doing work public employees performed for Mayor Richard Daley's administration.
The protesters were among 141 drivers fired last month in a cost-cutting move after their union refused to accept unpaid furlough days and a reduction in overtime pay.
Under a deal that went into effect July 1, the city hired private contractors to haul construction debris from city work sites for the Water Management Department. Among the companies chosen was Reliable Asphalt Corp., which received a $158 million, three-year contract.
Reliable owner Michael Vondra has donated tens of thousands of dollars to local politicians, including Daley, the Democratic organization in the mayor's 11th Ward power base and the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization. City records show Reliable's lobbyists on the deal are Victor Reyes, a former Hispanic Democratic Organization chairman and top mayoral aide, and David Bonoma, son of Daley's longtime secretary.
Is anyone really surprised? We didn't think so.
Labels: city politics
posted by SCC at 12:17 AM
33 Comments:
Someone save us from this little fuckhead........anyone.....
BARF...
It's time for organized labor in this City to come together & shut it down. Strikers picketing City Hall 27-7 !! Shortshanks needs to get "bitch slapped" ! Enough is is ENOUGH!!!!!!!
NO FUCKIN WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT IN CHICAGO!!!!!!!!
They broke our union we need more guys like Bella what a fucking tool.
Just more proof that layoffs are meant to facilitate the privatization of city jobs, thereby giving money to connected businesses, who then make contributions (payoffs) to Daley and select alderman. It happens again and again. What are the Feds waiting for? Enough instances to add conspiracy charges? In the meantime, the city goes broke and city workers are kicked to the curb.
I used to think very highly of US Attny Fitzgerald. Clearly he's neither the man nor the prosecutor we, the people, hired. His office should be the laughingstock of the country at this point. Blago is the joke prosecution of all time and Daley runs frickin' wild over the citizens. In about 2 months the Olympics starts to come to town and the raping reaches un precedented heights. All while the feds stumble around indicting the occassional copper. You all must be so proud. Assholes.
This is not merely union busting. This is Daley getting out from under Shakman decrees, federal hiring monitors, city council ovesight and any pretense of fairness.
Remember all the Federal lawsuits and resulting rules prohibiting requiring public employees from getting out there on election day to do political work for the Daley Democratic machine that doesn't exist?
Those rules do not apply to a private trucking company doing contract work for the City. The stuttering prick just got his HDO back and at the same time said fuck you to Noelle Brennan and Michael Shakman and the US Justice Department all in one big move reminiscent of a night time raid on Meigs Field.
He also rid himself of having to deal with contracts and those pesky Teamsters.
He must be just beside himself with glee and chuckling in his gin.
This is the way it is going to be here, look for all City union jobs to go this way. Privatization is not at all about economy, it is about giving many more truckloads of money to connected individuals and regaining that patronage army. Then those companies can kick back some of that money in the form of campaign contributions. A sneaky way to directly loot the City treasury and finance his perpetual election. Brilliant actually. Diabolical.
Citizens of Chicago, you are losing your City to an insane dictator, what are you going to do about it?
That's one company getting $373,000 a year to replace each of the 141 driver's? How's that saving money?
It's time for organized labor in this City to come together & shut it down. Strikers picketing City Hall 27-7 !! Shortshanks needs to get "bitch slapped" ! Enough is is ENOUGH!!!!!!!
8/02/2009 12:35:00 AM
I've been on furlough so long that I did not realize they added three more hours to the day.
Anonymous said...
It's time for organized labor in this City to come together & shut it down. Strikers picketing City Hall 24-7 !! Shortshanks needs to get "bitch slapped" ! Enough is is ENOUGH!!!!!!!
8/02/2009 12:35:00 AM
Organized labor ARE the unions.
The unions ARE the OUTFIT.
The unions protect their criminal leaders, NOT their membership.
If they shut down the city THEY, (the outfit) lose money.
The outfit ALWAYS gets their cut.
Ergo, it will NEVER HAPPEN.
WHO DO YOU THINK IS RUNNING THIS CITY??
Daley is the face that runs things.
Burke is the operative behind the scenes.
Our "elected officials" and Dept. heads are all controllable puppets.
ALL ORDERS come from the mob through Burke to Daley.
But, then again, you are already familiar with this roadmap, right Mr U S Attorney Fitzgerald????
The teamsters and AFSCME realized that Daley was hiring private vendors to replace laid off workers. They said not and refused to make concessions. The truck drivers learned that they were replaced by a private contractor connected to Reyes. How frustrating! Pay to play plitics. Why lay off workers when you have to hire private replacements? Daley rewards his friends and takes control away from unions. He hired contractors at the water department and to plant flowers in street flower boxes while laying off library pages. Watch: he will go after firs and police. No one is safe except clout.
"Someone save us from this little fuckhead........anyone.....
8/02/2009 12:21:00 AM"
C'mon, you got's ta have a tack driver, be that someone.
Get rid of the incumbent at the next election.
At least we might get our HUGE 3.5% raise! MAYBE! What a joke! Fuck this job and city! Risking our lives for 3.5%!?!?!? I guess that is to be expected when criminals run the city.
Can you say "Hired Truck Program"?
They never learn.
Hard to shed a tear for a Mobbed Up Union who's drivers know the drill all too well. Can U say Hired Truck??
So where is the savings? Oh yea, da mare saved himself from losing contributions AKA kickbacks.
Not only lay offs BUTTTTT... in CDOT if a MTD is not specifically assigned to a crew he/she is sent home. WTF !
We used to run debris and material to the crews. It's construction thats what has to be done. In one City yard(which LAZ parks for free)we got well over 200 tons of debris in the back. Thats just one yard!
Guess he's pissed we didnt go along with the plan.
I love the fact that he ALREADY is putting it out there the city is in the hole for 2010 500 million bucks.
I was told by a very reliable source that he only cares about the Olympics and wants a 15% reduction in city workers across the board.
He's fucking destroying our city.
Most union contracts with the city have a No-Strike clause.A strike would play right into Shortshanks hands,fire the striking city workers and privatize all city services with his friends and families companies.
158 million dollars to replace 141 drivers over 3 years. Thats 52.6 million a year. Thats 373,049.64 per driver per year. WOW! can I get one of those jobs, that is more than Jody makes for two jobs.
To all the guys who want to get rid of FOP where are the almighty teamsters now. If they are so great why dont they picket the job sites, not city hall. Iam sure Denny Gannon and all the other sell outs unions will honor it. Organized Labor Organized for the mayor.
The dumbass unions didn't unite and walk out together so this is what they get. Give that asshole an inch and he'll take a foot.
What a joke! Scam after scam after scam and still this mayor is allowed to walk the streets a free man! Where are the Feds? Oh yeah, there looking into CPS right now, no time to rid the city of a person who is single handily bankrupting this town while making sure that his friends and families pockets are lined. Unreal!
141 drivers even at $100,000 a year comes out to $14,100,000 and yet a three year contract for private trucks will cost $52,600,000per year, how is it that this is saving money?!?! The mayor takes us all for idiots!
When will it reach Daley...please God let it be soon.
Victor Reyes was Daleys chief of staff before the HDO was revealed.
Wait a sec, he lays off the workers cuz they wouldnt agree to unpaid furlo days due to the cash crunch, then HIRES workers to do the work of the ones he just layed off...........
this wont even make it as a comedy script......i am really at a loss
141 laid off drivers and a contract worth $158 million dollars over three years? Cost cutting? only if the drivers were making $300 thousand plus a year.... Granted streets and san is full of a bunch of dead weight, the driver drives to/from the job site and that's it while making more than we do, this little pipsqueak of a mayor doesn't even try to hide his bullshit anymore. Hello media?? Feds?? Anybody??
The junkies are coming from crackhouses.
Think about it. If you gave these guys 1 million dollars each over the next three years you would save 17 million dollars compared to this contract. You could pay these guys J-fart money and still come out ahead. The deficit for 2009 was 3 hundred million. Eliminating this contract would erase more than half that. WTF
But this company is providing trucks, fuel and insurance for these trucks, that has to be figured in still not 158 million
I was on the job years before it was unionized. We had a few small organizations, the best wasw the Confederation of Police. Jane let us unionize and Harold tried to take it away from us. Take it from me, the unions and all of the talk about a union town from the mayor did not apply to police and fire. The unions never stood behind the police or the fire department . A state law finally made it possible. Do not trust the unions in this town to stand up for you.Watch them closely.Watch your pension fund closely
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