COMPLIMENTARY
INSIDE ▶ Legislators want higher
tax bracket for top earners
▶ Union leaders call on
government to protect workers
▶ Trades council president
praises heroic actions
▶ Slight hike likely for
Social Security benefits
▶ Employees should
contribute to COVID-19 safety plans
JULY – AUGUST 2020
Seattle General Strike 100 years ago gives us hope for today By Jeff Johnson – For Labor Notes For five days in 1919, union members took control of the City of Seattle. They arguably ran it better, and certainly more justly, than it had ever been run before. The strike began when waitresses, laundry workers, streetcar workers and more – 65,000 union workers in all – walked off the job on Feb. 6, 1919, to support striking shipyard workers. Thousands of workers volunteered to keep Seattle’s essential services operating. People were fed at 21 different locations; on Feb. 9, volunteers served more than 30,000 meals. Milk distribution was organized at 35 locations. Garbage was picked up. Hospitals were supplied with what they needed. Public safety was secured by volunteer union patrols. No crime was reported during those five days. Contrast Seattle 1919 with today’s unfolding horror. We’re all witnessing what it looks like when a shutdown and the provision of essential services are administered by capital and a pro-corporate government. The Seattle General Strike was not just an event in labor history. It was a testament to what workers can achieve when they organize, and it has sharp lessons for today.
What laid the foundation for the strike? It was organizing in the mines, woods, mills, shipyards and farms. It was speeches delivered atop street-corner soapboxes and at mass meetings at the Dreamland roller skating rink. It was reporting by worker and socialist newspapers, the Radical Seattle: The General Strike of 1919 Industrial Workby Cal Winslow draws parallels with the ers of the World labor movement then and now. (IWW), the Socialist Party and the Seattle Central Labor Council. It all built a working-class consciousness and radical political infrastructure. See Seattle, on page 2
Celebration focuses on establishing solidarity economy In Ocean State By Paul V. Palange, Editor
“Workers make the world run, so workers should run the world.” The intent of that quote shared by Patrick Crowley, secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, captures the spirit of a recent celebration of the 2nd Annual RI State Day of Cooperatives. During the virtual event on June 4, Crowley said unions should support the establishment of more worker-owned companies, which are commonly called cooperatives or co-ops. That will lead to a more empowered work force and help prevent essential employees such as delivery drivers and certified nursing assistant (CAN) being treated as expendable workers, he said. According to the speakers, one response state officials should
have to the economic havoc created by the COVID-19 pandemic is building a “solidarity economy” comprised of co-ops. Oscar Leiva, a co-founder of Healthy Planet Cleaning Cooperative, the first worker-owned co-op to be incorporated in Rhode Island, said if it wasn’t for Healthy Planet, he would be unemployed because of the pandemic. Members of a cooperative, he explained, have the flexibility to make operational adjustments that allow them to navigate difficulties without losing their jobs. Mikaela Enos, account executive and bookkeeper for the Bread and Roses Design and Print Cooperative Inc., said she loves being in a co-op. See Solidarity, on page 3
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From Seattle, on page 1 In his new book Radical Seattle: The General Strike of 1919, Cal Winslow vividly brings to life the workers’ movement of that time in the Pacific Northwest. Organizing reached a fever pitch at the turn of the 20th century. Workers were demanding decent wages, safe and humane working conditions, adequate food and lodging, the closed shop and the eight-hour workday. There was a popular push for big industrial unions, rather than separate unions by craft within an industry – and the IWW was demanding one big union across all industries. The owners of capital, along with their political handmaidens, were vicious in their attacks on unions and workers. From capital’s perspective, unions weren’t just bad, they were anti-American. Those who sided with workers’ organizations were demonized, brutally attacked and locked up. Membership in the IWW grew rapidly as paid organizers were sent to agitate, educate and organize in labor camps around Puget Sound. Working-class consciousness grew in “fits and starts,” Winslow reports, through strikes and bloody conflicts in the woods and sawmills and on the waterfront. Seattle itself offered fertile ground for organizing. Since employment was seasonal in logging, fishing, the canneries and agriculture, the off seasons brought thousands of unemployed workers to the city looking for shelter, food, work and comradeship. The city was growing by leaps and bounds, with a manufacturing workforce 50,000 strong. By the end of World War I, Seattle had become the leading port on the West Coast. Seattle also leaned progressive. Workers had access to progressive and socialist newspapers, bringing them news of worker struggles and victories from all around the world. The Union Record, the first labor-owned daily newspaper in the country,
published by the Central Labor Council, had a circulation of 120,000 after the general strike. Seattle’s labor movement was unique. The Central Labor Council had strong, cooperative leadership that worked well with socialists and the IWW. The CLC differed from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the East Coast unions in its strong support for industrial unions over craft unions, its support for a closed shop and its use of secondary boycotts to support other unions’ organizing and contract fights. Between 1916 and 1918, Seattle’s union membership grew by 300 percent to 60,000 workers. As rank-andfile CLC members and leaders worked with IWW members and socialists, Winslow writes, the local labor movement developed a “radical consensus” and “radicalized militant majority.” Perhaps the single most important event in producing this radical consensus was the brutal Everett Massacre in 1916. Workers were arriving on a steamer from Seattle for a free-speech event to support striking shingle workers. The local sheriff and a citizens’ mob savagely attacked them in a hail of gunfire. Five or more people died, at least 30 were injured and 74 were jailed. Seattle workers in 1919 found the confidence to take the reins of their city – in spite of condemnation by capital, political leaders and the AFL – because they had a strong sense of class consciousness and solidarity and a vision of a more just world. Today the failures of capitalism have been dramatically laid bare as workers face the existential crises of climate disaster, income inequality and a global pandemic. We urgently need the confidence of Seattle 1919. Labor, communities of color, tribes and other allies will have to build it together. Jeff Johnson is former president of the Washington State AFL-CIO.
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A call to slash spending on policing while increasing budgets for social services, education By Samantha Winslow & Alexandra Bradbury – For Labor Notes Hundreds of thousands of people in every state have braved the pandemic to protest the murder of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by Minneapolis police. Like the teacher strike waves of 2018 and 2019, the protests against police violence have the support of a majority of Americans. A Monmouth poll showed 78 percent think protesters’ anger about the killing of Floyd is wholly or partially justified. What reform would actually make change? Body cams and de-escalation training have failed to make the difference many people want. Protesters have been demanding consequences for violent racist officers -- not just firing but criminal charges. In an unprecedented step, the charge against Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who allegedly caused Floyd’s death by pressing his knee against the victim’s neck for close to nine minutes, was upgraded to second-degree murder and the other three
officer involved were also charged. But in Minneapolis and around the country, there’s another rising demand that could have even more profound effects: Defund the police. Scale back their outsized budgets and redirect the money to much-needed services. The cost of policing is exacted first and foremost in the damage to Black lives and second in an enormous drain on public resources. Every dollar spent on police is a dollar not spent on schools and city services. Many large cities spent more than 25 percent of their general fund budgets on police departments, according to a 2017 report by the Center for Popular Democracy. The United States spends $100 billion on policing and another $80 billion jailing people each year. It’s the one line in municipal budgets that’s rarely on
Local 310
Brotherhood of Utility Workers Council affiliated with the
Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO
Phil Fogarty President
1300 Jefferson Blvd. Warwick, RI 02886 E-Mail: local310@buwc.necoxmail.com
Office: (401) 738-8007 Cell: (401) 932-3642 Fax: (401) 738-1180
See Police Spending, on page 8
Solidarity, from page 1 “I couldn’t be more proud,” Enos said of her involvement with Bread and Roses, which has been operating for a year. She explained that coop members have been taken care of financially during the pandemic, and that because they are employee-owned, they have had work flow flexibility during these challenging times. Ben Choiniere, a member of the Rhode Island Center for Employee Ownership (RICEO), said the organization has four goals. They are: raising cooperative awareness; building institutional support for a democratic business sector; creating more employee ownership; and improving the economy in the Ocean State. He cited the Local Ownership Opportunity Act signed into state law last year, which was a critical step to further efforts for a solidarity economy. The act gives business owners who do not have a succession plan, which he said is 80 percent of them in Rhode Island, the option of selling a company to their employees so they can form a cooperative. According to Choiniere if more owners do that, it will bring struggling businesses back to life and allow for the continuation of successful companies, which will improve “the economic circumstances for many people.” Another plus,
JULY/AUGUST 2020
he said, is that co-ops have twice the “survivability rate” than traditional businesses. He said the state needs to establish a commission to focus on issues pertaining to cooperatives such as grants and loans for start-ups, preferential taxation and procurement and state-funded technical assistance. Elizabeth Catucci, president and chief executive officer of the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, said while the organization is comprised of mainstream companies, that the Chamber wants to help cooperatives. “Think of it (the Chamber) as a resource for everyone,” she said. “I want to help.” Catucci said the Chamber can offer assistance with regulations and guidelines, marketing, human resource matters and government relations. “We like to collaborate because we want to move the state forward,” she said, adding that co-ops have beneficial features such as giving members the opportunity to develop job skills and grow business without high labor costs. The celebration was moderated by Jessica Vega, Pawtucket-Central Falls program director for the Social Enterprise Greenhouse.
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Government must invest in workers to overcome challenges from pandemic
OPINION
By George Nee & Patrick Crowley The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lives and the Rhode Island economy. No one understands that better than Rhode Island’s working people. For too many of us still working on the front lines of this pandemic, simply going to work could mean getting sick or even losing our lives. Hundreds of thousands of workers in Rhode Island are now unemployed as this public health crisis has ripped across our state and our country. It is crucial that our elected leaders at every level of government act to save our state, save our economy and save workers’ lives. That’s why the Rhode Island AFL-CIO is planning a national day of action with unions in all 50 states. The so-called Workers First Caravan will be a call for action from our elected leaders before this crisis pushes our nation and our state past the point of no return.
George Nee
We need to keep all workers safe and healthy on the job by demanding government agencies charged with keeping us safe
JULY/AUGUST 2020
at work do their job and function properly. Front-line workers such as the clerks at local supermarkets, health care workers in hospitals and congregate care settings, UPS drivers, postal workers, and state workers at places such as the Rhode Island Veterans Home are heroically putting their health at risk every single day. We will stand up and say with conviction that workers are essential – not expendable. In many ways, Rhode Island’s elected officials are setting a positive example for the rest of the country. Gov. Gina Raimondo’s steady leadership has helped calm nerves even while she has taken bold steps to keep public education going through distance learning. Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott has repeatedly reassured the public and Department of Labor and Training Director Scott Jensen has led his agency to perform at the highest level for our unemployed workers. And behind them stand thousands of state workers, doing their duty daily to keep us healthy and safe. However, while Rhode Island is going through this health crisis, too many people, especially those who work in our local hospitality and restaurant industry, are losing their health insurance. We cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy work force. That means ensuring the federal government provides 100
percent federal payment support to extend health insurance coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). We need to expand affordable health care not eliminate it. With the highest number of unemployed Americans since the Great Depression, we need to provide good jobs for all workers. This crisis is a wake-up call to make long overdue investments in a key pillar of the economy – our infrastructure. Rhode Island Building Trades men and women answered the call of duty, working around the clock adding additional health care beds at facilities such as the Patrick Crowley Rhode Island Convention Center. There is no better time than now to reinvest in the vital infrastructure we need to protect our country and boost the creation of good jobs. Now more than ever we need shovel-ready projects. That means investing in new school construction projects in several communities, including Newport, Cranston, Warwick and Cumberland. See Government, on page 12
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New Medicare group options can lower premiums, improve coverage By Robert Dumais Win-win opportunities are difficult to find, and when it comes to health insurance, it’s extremely hard. But there is something interesting and new in the Medicare marketplace, specifically regarding group coverage options that you should know about. If your collective bargaining agreement (CBA) includes a post age 65 Medicare benefit, it is probably a Medicare supplement plan also known as Medi-gap, possibly with a prescription drug rider. Among the many Medicare coverage options, it would arguably have been considered excellent coverage and likely the best available at the time it was negotiated. The concept was simple; the government would be your primary insurer and a private carrier would fill the gaps. Over the last several years, however, Medicare advantage plans have gotten much more comprehensive and competitive, and in most cases are outselling supplement plans by a wide margin. Essentially with an advantage plan, the carrier you select is primary and provides a comprehensive medical benefit package. Since the government is no longer providing you with coverage, it instead pays all or part of the
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premium on your behalf to the advantage plan carrier you select. Originally offered only by health maintenance organizations (HMO) or point of service (POS) configurations with their inherent provider access limitations, preferred provider organization (PPO) variations of Medicare advantage plans are now surfacing. Baby boomers in particular are finding that the nationwide provider access that the PPO options offer nicely compliments their active mobile lifestyles.
you hadn’t considered. It is very possible that the cost of retiree Medicare coverage can be lowered, and benefits can actually be enhanced. Robert Dumais is a principle of Legacy Benefit Advisors in Warwick. Contact him at (401) 868-1400 or RDumais@LBARI.com.
Surprisingly, the Medicate advantage PPO plans are proving to also be quite cost effective. In both individual and group scenarios, the savings can be significant and they are proof that sometimes things can be done better at a lower cost. We strongly suggest whether you are an individual on Medicare or whether you represent an employer or fund that is providing group Medicare coverage that you talk with an independent professional to explore what opportunities may exist that
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Ocean State can depend on dedicated union building, construction workers during crises
Michael Sabitoni
By Michael F. Sabitoni There are a number of professions that have been recognized for heroic calls to action during this pandemic, all of them well deserving. One group that is rarely mentioned is the 10,000 skilled craftsmen and women of the Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades Council. For a number of years, I have been honored and privileged to serve as their president; but today, I am more proud than ever because our members are answering the call of duty, courageously “lacing them up” every day during these most difficult times. A most poignant example is the urgently needed field hospital constructed with extraordinary speed and skill for an anticipated rise in COVID-19 cases. Within a record two weeks, our union work force turned a 365,000 square foot space at the Rhode Island Convention Center into a total functioning hospital to treat Rhode Islanders infected with the coronavirus. Tradesmen and women worked 24/7, constructing a state-of-the-art, fully operational triage center consisting of four wards, 28 pods and 600 private rooms. That impressive construction was accomplished with union members working in double shifts, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., relieved by overnight crews from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. It is hard to fathom the depth and breadth of the critical, hospital infrastructure that was put in place with such expedience, experience and strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The build out includes a massive heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) infrastructure and vast pipeline systems to ensure constant clean air flow throughout the hospital as well as pure oxygen lines for every patient. Additional infrastructure includes electrical hook-ups for life-saving hospital equipment, water lines for hot and cold water and an internet connection for each room. Add to that carefully moving in the basics for each room such as lamps, tables, beds and even hospital grade curtains for privacy, you will have some idea of the tremendous effort our members put in to accomplish the monumental feat. The convention center field hospital was not the only one our union work force was called upon to build. Our courageous tradesmen and tradeswomen have also completed two more – one at the former Citizens Bank in Cranston and in the vacant Lowes Building at Quonset Point under the same difficult circumstances with the same professionalism, under record speed. Just as other states are turning to building trades councils during this pandemic, so too is Rhode Island, ensuring our essential road, bridges and critical infrastructure projects remain on track. Today, and in all times of need, the members of the Rhode Island Building Trades Council always step up to the plate. During Superstorm Sandy, tradesmen and tradeswomen worked collectively around the clock, rebuilding severely flooded roads and bridges; and repairing and reconstructing thousands of small businesses, schools, courthouses and other critical buildings that were flooded, laden with mold and significantly damaged. During Tropical Strom Irene and the devastating March 2010 floods, our members worked nonstop to bring wastewater treatment plants and other critical infrastructure back online.
JULY/AUGUST 2020
You can trace the sacrifice and commitment by the Rhode Island Building Trades back to our establishment in 1908. For more than a century, together, with our union contractors and partners in local and state government, we have risen to every challenge, every catastrophic period with resolve and solidarity. Today’s COVID-19 crisis is no different. The union tradesmen and tradeswomen of Rhode Island have once again gone above and beyond to serve its citizenry. I am most humbled by their selflessness, respect and continued diligence to support our state and leading Rhode Island through this tremendous hardship. This is the true essence of union solidarity that we live by as trade unionists. We will all get there together! Please be safe, be well and stay protected. Michael F. Sabitoni is president of the Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council
LOCAL 37 IRONWORKERS PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
BUSINESS MANAGER/FST David M. Langlais PRESIDENT Armand M. LaRose Jr. VICE PRESIDENT Matthew Jackson
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Russell Lachance
RECORDING SECRETARY
Timothy Leonard
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Police Spending, from page 3 the chopping block, whether crime goes up or down. Taxpayers also pay for police brutality. Cities and towns pay millions in legal fees and settlements of police misconduct lawsuits. Now municipalities and states are drowning in red ink, forecasting tax shortfalls of millions of dollars because of the COVID-19 crisis. Politicians are already demanding severe cuts. Public sector unions are saying there’s nothing left to cut from schools or transit -- and a few are pointing to the one department that’s always well-funded. In Philadelphia, for instance, the mayor’s proposed budget is based on hundreds of layoffs, but the mayor is trying to increase police funding by $14 million. However, the mayor in Los succumbed to pressure and announced cuts to the police department. Budgets reveal a society’s priorities. Two photographs recently circulated on social media, driving home the point. One showed cops decked out in expensive military gear. The other showed health care workers wearing garbage bags because of the shortage of basic protective gear during the pandemic. You can find similar stories across workplaces, leading to a threadbare safety net and barebones social services. Police officers fill the gap, poorly. Police are often deployed against social problems they have no idea how to deal with, confronting people who are homeless or substance abusers or who can’t access mental health care. Officers often respond with the tools of their trade -- violence and arrests. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Even with crimes such as drugs and burglary, throwing police at the problem doesn’t solve the desperation that is often the root cause. Arresting and re-arresting people only makes their situation worse, creating a vicious cycle that disproportionately punishes people who live in poor communities, particularly people of color. In Minneapolis, African Americans are 20 percent of the population, but 60 percent of the arrests. Nationwide, a 2017 Prison Policy Initiative study found that people who were arrested multiple times were dis-
Signs being carried by protesters indicate that some members of unions are ready to challenge the conduct of police officers in the United States. Photo/Jim West
Policing can be both harmful and expensive. It drains public money that could otherwise go to measures that would address the actual, underlying problems, things such as drug treatment programs and creating good jobs. With rising poverty and record unemployment, we need such programs more than ever.
Around the country, racial justice groups such as Black Lives Matter and Black Youth Project 100 and community coalitions have been making such demands for years. A handful of unions have joined those efforts. In many cities, though, community groups have led the way while labor hung back. Historically, unions have been wary of opposing the police. But the current change in public opinion should embolden us. The need couldn’t be more urgent.
In Minneapolis, the outrage over Floyd’s murder is provoking many public workers to question their employers’ ties to the police.
Samantha Winslow and Alexandra Bradbury are co-directors of Labor Notes, and Bradbury also serves as editor.
proportionately Black, and 88 percent of them were arrested for nonviolent crimes.
Bus drivers refused to transport officers or arrested protesters. The University of Minnesota is cutting most of its ties with the Minneapolis Police Department; and the teachers union pushed the Minneapolis Education Department to cancel its $3 million contract to put police in schools; the school board voted unanimously to do that.
RHODE ISLAND BUILDING TRADES MICHAEL F. SABITONI President
SCOTT DUHAMEL Secretary-Treasurer
TIMOTHY BYRNE Vice President
WILLIAM BEAUDRY Sergeant-At-Arms
Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local Union 1
Sprinkler Fitters & Apprentices Local Union 676
Construction & General Laborers Local Union 271
Elevator Constructors Local Union 39
Boilermakers Local Union 29
Bridge, Structional, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers Local Union 37
Plasters and Cement Masons Local Union 40 Carpenters Local Union 94 Roofers and Waterproofers Local Union 33 IBEW Local Union 99 Plumbers, Pipefitters & Refrigeration Local Union 51
Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 17 Painters and Allied Trades Local Union 195 Glaziers Local Union 1333 Teamsters Local Union 251 Heat, Frost Insulators & Asbestos Local Union 6
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Forecast for 2021 indicates Social Security benefits will increase slightly By John A. Pernorio – President, Rhode Island Alliance for Retired Americans Some unsettling news for the many older Americans is that initial projections indicate the 2021 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security will be very low because of the COVID-19 stalled economy. Next year’s Social Security COLA won’t be set in stone until October, but The Kiplinger Letter is projecting the adjustment will continue its downward trend of the past few years and land below 1 percent thanks to reduced consumer activity amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Social Security COLA for 2020 was only 1.6 percent after a 2.8 percent increase in 2019. There are laws in place to prevent the Social Security Administration (SSA) from allowing inflation to cut into how effective the benefits program is for supporting millions of Americans, but the way COLA is calculated has been a point of contention. While the Social Security COLA is meant to keep up with inflation, it’s far from a perfect system. The SSA uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) to calculate the annual Social Security COLA. It’s a national average, and data from the third quarter (July-September) is used because fourth quarter data is unavailable from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the time the COLA must be set in October. If inflation rises, the Social Security COLA will rise. If the country experiences deflation, then the COLA will be zero for the year. That happened in 2010, 2011 and 2016. Looking at the CPI-W, the inflation forecast for 2021 is only 1 percent because of the lack of consumer activity amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Kiplinger argues that while the biggest price declines have already happened, prices will most likely remain depressed for any activity involving travel or large entertainment gatherings because of social distancing. Spikes could happen for some prices as consumer demand causes shortages, but Kiplinger doesn’t see it offsetting the low prices elsewhere. Some argue that using the CPI-W to calculate the Social Security COLA is problematic because it doesn’t place as much weight on goods and services more frequently purchased by older Americans such as health care. Another index, the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E), has been championed by advocates who think it could help create a more accurate adjustment for inflation. The Senior Citizens League conducted a study in 2019 and found the purchasing power of Social Security has decreased by 18 percent in the last decade. The adjustment for 2020 was only 1.6 percent, which is around $24 extra per month for the average beneficiary.
www. baycrane. com phone 401-349-2755 fax 401-349-2799
Medicare Part B premiums rose by $9.10 in 2020, which knocked out a good chunk of Social Security’s raise for any beneficiaries enrolled in both programs. And that’s only one example of rising medical costs.
Bay Crane Northeast
We’ll keep an eye on the Social Security COLA news throughout the year. But if the numbers hold up from the early projections, you shouldn’t expect much of a raise next year.
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Pernorio can be contacted at riarajap@hotmail.com.
JULY/AUGUST 2020
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Workers need to be involved with building COVID-19 safety plans By Paul V. Palange, Editor As the economy starts up again in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, people who have been working from home or have been furloughed and laid off will start to return to places of employment. However, how employees operate in the workplace is going to be different because of procedures and measures that must be implemented to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Such plans, according to officials that conducted a recent webinar, should be formulated with the input of workers. “Management and labor should be conducting risk assessments. The people that do the jobs know the
risks,” said one of the presenters, Frederick W. Malaby. During the planning process, it should be clear who the decision makers are, and the process should involve key stakeholders and front-line workers, he said.
Perspective, the webinar was held by the Rhode Island Commission on Occupational Safety and Health, and its executive director, James Celenza, was the other presenter. The moderator was Patrick Crowley, secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.
“There should be clear lines of responsibility, accountability and timeliness,” he said, adding that employers must undertake a job safety analysis to determine the potential workers have of being exposed to COVID-19 and what is being done to reduce the risk.
Malaby is a trainer for The New England Consortium, which is the region’s model hazardous waste operations and emergency response worker health and safety training organization. He’s also a retired industrial hygienist for the Occupational and Safety and Health Administration’s Boston regional office.
Entitled Reopening the Economy from a Workers’
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See Workers, on page 13
401-434-0454
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International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers LOCAL UNION 99
22 Amflex Drive, Cranston, RI 02921
2020 Election Results
Rhode Island JudIcIal, Rhode Island Judicial, PRofessIonal and TechnIcal Professional and Technical emPloyees ’ Employees’ local unIon 808
LOCAL UNION KaRen haZaRd 808 Business Manager
Karen Hazard Paul d’aBBRaccIo claudIa PoRRaZZo President
Business Manager
Thomas e. defaZIo
Vice President
Paul D’Abbraccio Secretary – Treasurer
caRla m. cIccone
Judy KaWa
KhoRen souValIan
President
Executive Board Member
Thomas E. DeFazio Secretary – Treasurer
Judy Kawa
Executive Board Member
JULY/AUGUST 2020
Claudia Porrazzo Recording Secretary Vice President
Executive Board Member
Carla M. Ciccone Recording Secretary
Khoren Souvalian
Executive Board Member
President: Alvin Reyes Vice President: Paul Stromberg Treasurer: Salvatore Masi Recording Secretary: n/a Business Manager/Financial Secretary: Joseph L. Walsh Jr. Executive Board: (alphabetical order) Jeff D’Antuono Alan Desplaines Khalil Gilmore Ray Kane John MacDonald Joe Manzi Eric Wineman Delegate to the Convention: (alphabetical order) Joe Manzi Alvin Reyes PH 401-946-9900 • IBEW99.ORG • FAX 401-946-9907
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Government, from page 5 We demand that our elected leaders at every level of government step up during this time of unprecedented challenge. They must do the right thing for Rhode Island’s workers and our families. We demand the government do everything in its power to ensure sustainable supply lines of personal protective equipment for front line workers. This is a moment that demands clear action and common purpose. Any meaningful relief and recovery will require that our government prioritize workers and their families. Workers built America. We keep this nation running every day, and we will rebuild America’s prosperity. Now, we must stand up and demand action from our government. George Nee and Patrick Crowley are president and secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFLCIO, respectively.
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Workers, from page 10 Celenza said management and labor should follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) when drafting measures, which should include daily health checks of workers, a workplace hazard assessment, encouraging employees to wear face coverings, cleaning and disinfecting procedures, social distancing and improving ventilation systems. Suggested resources are the National Association of Industrial Hygienists and the American Institute of Architects, with the latter offering information about concerns such as airflow, moving and situating staff members and how to avoid “choke points” or too many people in a hallway or on an elevator. Malaby said written site safety plans must address items such as reorganizing work stations to maintain physical distancing; changes to staffing and scheduling; how employees will interact with visitors, customers, patients and clients; and a checklist to ensure critical aspects of the plan are maintained. If necessary, employees should be provided with personal protection equipment and isolated from hazards. In fact if hazards are identified, they must be removed from the workplace and then replaced when they are an essential item, according to Malaby. The presenters also talked about other recommended practices that have been repeated numerous times since the onset of the pandemic. Those include instructing employees to stay home when they are sick; reminding people not to touch their nose, mouth and eyes; emphasizing that employees should avoid shaking hands and close contact with co-workers and customers; providing notouch bins for the disposal of tissues; and stressing the importance of covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sleeve. Celenza said people with questions about workplace safety can email him at jascelenza@gmail,com.
CONGRATULATIONS ATU LOCAL 618
Celebrating 100 Years of Progress from the Drivers, Maintenance and Supervisory Personnel of ATU Local 618 & 618A in Providence & Newport TOM CUTE
President – Business Agent
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Financial Secretary
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New tax bracket proposed for top earners to aid in resurrecting economy
OPINION
By Sen. William J. Conley Jr. and Rep. Karen Alzate The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in the lives of our families and friends and set in motion an economic maelstrom devastating every economic sector of Rhode Island. Working families, large and small businesses, public services from our state and municipalities and our collective sense of community are all struggling to cope with its destructive and existential consequences. This is a historically teachable moment that requires us Rep. Alzate to remain steadfast to the values of the social contract that have made our republic the greatest experience in governing in the history of civilization. It is time to discard divisive rhetoric and respond to the inspiring voices that are telling us we are all in this together. The General Assembly is confronted with extraordinarily difficult decisions as it reconvenes. Among the many challenges is a revenue shortfall of more than $800 million in our state budget. While significantly more state and municipal aid must be the foundation of Congress’ next relief package, Rhode Island must be nimble and innovative in creating its own revenue solutions so we do not retreat from investing in our future. The task of rebuilding our economy will be an increSen. Conley mental process that will require constant review of reliable data, information and results. Strategic cuts in expenditures will be necessary, but we cannot simply take a machete to the budget and inflict further harm by reducing economic activity. We must pursue policies that support small businesses, generate consumer spending and stabilize an affordable, accessible public health care system. Despite the daunting circumstances, there is near universal agreement that we must invest in our schools and education, continue our infrastructure improvements and address our affordable-housing challenge.
business owner who already bear a disproportionate share of that burden. We have already introduced legislation that can raise an estimated $128 million dollars, based on preCOVID tax data. We propose that the top 1 percent of tax filers pay approximately the same percentage of their income in taxes as the middle class. Our legislation would establish a new tax bracket that would apply to the 5,000 tax filers with an adjusted gross income greater than $475,000. That will increase the current rate on those filers from 5.99 percent to 8.99 percent. By way of example, a filer with a taxable income of $500,000 would pay $750 more in income tax. Under the state’s current tax structure, the 20 percent lowest earners pay 12.1 percent of their income in taxes while our wealthiest pay only 7.9 percent of their income in taxes. Under our proposal, the top 1 percent of wealthiest Rhode Islanders will pay 9.3 percent of their income in taxes, which is still less than the lowest 20 percent of income earners, but about equal to the other 79 percent of Rhode Island’s taxpayers. Remember that the wealthiest received an average tax benefit of $35,000 from the December 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA). Even with our proposed legislation, those filers will still pay less in taxes than they did before the enactment of the TCJA. There is some fear that increasing taxes of
those taxpayers with the highest income will cause them to leave Rhode Island. That concern has been studied in depth, and the data establishes that it is simply not the case. Acts of sacrifice and courage are occurring every day that demonstrate our resolute commitment to each other’s well-being, aides-mémoires that personal responsibility includes community building. We need to continue our investment in Rhode Island’s future and support equity in our tax structure to create the economic resiliency necessary to recover from this crisis. Senate Finance Chair William J. Conley Jr., D-East Providence, is co-chair of the COVID-19 Spending Task Force. Rep. Karen Alzate, D-Pawtucket, serves on the House Education and Welfare, Labor and Special Legislation
Additional financial burdens should not be placed on municipalities whose only source of revenue is property taxes. That simply means a greater allocation of tax burden on hardworking families and small
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