the skim is off the top
if they pay you well and treat you good, what is the function of the protection money being paid to the unions?
if management and workers do not have common sense, character and a work ethic, then nothing runs right and you fall of the train and study jiu jitsu?
work rules at the rail road have a long history
at Nassau OTB you can't pick two shifts to work on the same day because it is allegedly against the rules.
who the hell needs a Congressman when your union leader at Nassau OTB is a Suffolk County Legislator?
go figure why that is not a conflict of interest.
an honest day's work for an honest day's pay is a concept foisted on earthlings by martians.
If politicians et al can run NYC OTB in bankrupty surely they can do the same for the MTA.
where are all the books of the MTA available for public inspection on the internet.
If you are a LIRR worker who bets horses, would you have bet $23,000,000 on the Nassau OTB Race Palace backed by Nassau County Bonds.
The railroad runs almost every day of the year. Why does not Nassau OTB open every day of the year to take bets and so that workers may work before another OTB goes bankrupt like NYC OTB.
These Congressman have gonads to talk about work and working when things are in the State that they are.
Competent Criminals with Character? An alternative to politicians and unions?
NY: Congressmen Urge MTA to Reconsider LIRR Raise
A dozen members of Congress from Long Island and New York City are urging the MTA to back off its demands for three years of wage freezes or big concessions from Long Island Rail Road union workers who are threatening to strike as early as next month.
Feb. 19--A dozen members of Congress
from Long Island and New York City are urging the MTA to back off its
demands for three years of wage freezes or big concessions from Long
Island Rail Road union workers who are threatening to strike as early as
next month.
Reps. Steve Israel, Peter King, Tim Bishop, Carolyn McCarthy, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, Jerrold Nadler, Michael Grimm, Carolyn Maloney and Joseph Crowley signed a letter sent to Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Thomas Prendergast urging the agency "to reconsider its decision to entirely reject the recommendations" of a board of mediators appointed by President Barack Obama that largely favored LIRR unions.
"The recommendations issued . . . may not have included everything that either side had hoped," the letter read, "however we believe that it could serve as a model for the types of concessions that can be made to move an agreement forward."
The letter, dated Feb. 19, comes a month before some 6,000 LIRR union workers, who have been without a contract since June 2010, could legally walk off the job March 21.
If both sides could not agree to a deal, the Congress members urged the MTA to request a second Presidential Emergency Board to review the dispute -- putting off a strike until July.
An MTA spokesman said both sides remain in a "cooling off period" and that the agency still has time to decide its next move.
The MTA soundly rejected the findings of a first Presidential Emergency Board, which said the agency could afford to give workers raises of 2.83 percent over six years without having to raise fares.
The MTA has said it needs workers to agree to a three-year freeze on total labor costs. Any raises would be funded through union givebacks, including the abolishment of work rules, pension reform, and sizable employee health care contributions.
"In particular, we urge the MTA to reconsider its insistence on a wage freeze or concessions to fully pay for wage increases," the federal lawmakers wrote in the letter. "Though wage adjustments should be left to the parties to decide, we believe that the MTA should find a way to address [the board's] findings without increasing the cost of commuting for millions of New York families."
Anthony Simon, general chairman of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union/United Transportation Union-the LIRR's largest labor organization-called it "the most powerful Congressional letter that you can possibly ask for."
"Twelve United States Congressmen, on paper, are saying [to the MTA] that you are eventually going to cause a strike," said Simon, who will host a briefing of several state and federal lawmakers in Brooklyn Friday on the prospect of a March strike.
According to state records, the United Transportation Union has made
campaign donations in the current election cycle ranging from $2,500 to
$10,000 to Israel, Bishop, Jeffries, Nadler, King, Clarke and Grimm.Reps. Steve Israel, Peter King, Tim Bishop, Carolyn McCarthy, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Hakeem Jeffries, Yvette Clarke, Jerrold Nadler, Michael Grimm, Carolyn Maloney and Joseph Crowley signed a letter sent to Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Thomas Prendergast urging the agency "to reconsider its decision to entirely reject the recommendations" of a board of mediators appointed by President Barack Obama that largely favored LIRR unions.
"The recommendations issued . . . may not have included everything that either side had hoped," the letter read, "however we believe that it could serve as a model for the types of concessions that can be made to move an agreement forward."
The letter, dated Feb. 19, comes a month before some 6,000 LIRR union workers, who have been without a contract since June 2010, could legally walk off the job March 21.
If both sides could not agree to a deal, the Congress members urged the MTA to request a second Presidential Emergency Board to review the dispute -- putting off a strike until July.
An MTA spokesman said both sides remain in a "cooling off period" and that the agency still has time to decide its next move.
The MTA soundly rejected the findings of a first Presidential Emergency Board, which said the agency could afford to give workers raises of 2.83 percent over six years without having to raise fares.
The MTA has said it needs workers to agree to a three-year freeze on total labor costs. Any raises would be funded through union givebacks, including the abolishment of work rules, pension reform, and sizable employee health care contributions.
"In particular, we urge the MTA to reconsider its insistence on a wage freeze or concessions to fully pay for wage increases," the federal lawmakers wrote in the letter. "Though wage adjustments should be left to the parties to decide, we believe that the MTA should find a way to address [the board's] findings without increasing the cost of commuting for millions of New York families."
Anthony Simon, general chairman of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union/United Transportation Union-the LIRR's largest labor organization-called it "the most powerful Congressional letter that you can possibly ask for."
"Twelve United States Congressmen, on paper, are saying [to the MTA] that you are eventually going to cause a strike," said Simon, who will host a briefing of several state and federal lawmakers in Brooklyn Friday on the prospect of a March strike.
Long Island Business News
Suffolk,
Nassau OTB probe ethics conflict
by David Winzelberg
Published: November 24th, 2013
At least one employee of Nassau County Off-Track Betting is questioning whether the head of his employee union, a member-elect of the Suffolk County Legislature, should have a say in Suffolk OTB business.
Teamsters Local 707 President Kevin
McCaffery, whose union represents about 200 Nassau OTB workers,
was elected earlier this month to serve as a Suffolk legislator
representing the 14th District. In a letter last week, Nassau OTB
cashier Jackson Leeds alerted the Suffolk County Ethics Board to
McCaffery’s possible conflict of interest.
“As a
Suffolk County legislator, his duties are to the people of Suffolk
County,” Leeds wrote. “He cannot simultaneously represent the
interests of employees of Nassau OTB, a Nassau County public
benefit corporation.”
McCaffery told LIBN he doesn’t think the two counties’ OTBs are in
competition with each other and he doesn’t see his role as union
leader for Nassau OTB workers as a conflict with issues
surrounding Suffolk OTB.
“If
anything, I have the background of dealing with Nassau OTB, which
gives me more insight on the subject than any other legislator out
there,” McCaffery said.
When
asked if the legislator-elect’s union job appeared to be a
conflict of interest, Nassau OTB chief Joseph Cairo said, “If you
really want to stretch it. But I don’t see anything that’s
apparent to me.”
Cairo
added that he’ll instruct the Nassau agency’s counsel to review
the situation.
Leeds,
a 10-year veteran of Nassau OTB, complained that both union
officials and county OTB management have been too focused on the
1,000 video lottery terminals planned for each county’s OTB and
they’re not paying enough attention to current operations.
“They
never worked behind a window,” Leeds told LIBN. “They’re out of
touch with the bettors of Nassau County.”
Internet wagering and dwindling handles – the overall money being
wagered – have prompted a consolidation in Nassau OTB’s operations
in recent years; there were 15 betting offices in Nassau in 2003,
and now there are eight. Suffolk OTB, which has seven branch
offices, filed for bankruptcy last year.
These
days, according to some analysts, OTB offices exist largely for
political patronage – another reason, according to Leeds, that the
Nassau union chief shouldn’t mix one business with the other.
“Union
leaders should not be politicians,” he said. “OTBs are run by
politicians. Being political and doing public good aren’t always
incompatible, but they often are.”
This
isn’t the first time a Long Island legislator’s OTB ties have
become an issue.
In May
2000, Gregory Peterson, then-president of the Nassau OTB, sued to
prevent Nassau County Leg. Roger Corbin from voting on
appointments to the Nassau OTB’s board of directors. Because
Corbin was employed as a branch manager for New York City OTB and
a member of Teamsters Local 858, which then represented all
employees of Nassau OTB, Peterson alleged Corbin’s legislative
role posed a conflict of interest.
A New
York Supreme Court judge issued an injunction preventing Corbin
from voting on OTB appointments, but Corbin appealed and the lower
court’s decision was reversed. The Nassau County Board of Ethics
also chimed in, determining by a 3-2 vote that voting on OTB
appointments didn’t create a conflict because Corbin didn’t
influence policy or engage in labor negotiations.
With
McCaffery, some observers say it’s best to proceed with caution.
Anthony Figliola, vice president of Uniondale-based government
relations firm Empire
Government Strategies, said the legislator-elect may want to
recuse himself from any votes concerning Suffolk OTB until the
Suffolk County Ethics Board offers an opinion.
“OTB is a political football,” Figliola said. “It’s better to stay
out of it, especially if you want to get things done in the
Legislature.”
|
Executive Board
January 21, 2010 Local
707 Executive board is sworn in for another 3 year
term by General IBT President James P. Hoffa
Kevin McCaffrey
John Zirpoli
Larry
Cinque
Tom
Hogan
Daniel Pacheco ~ Charles Pane ~ Mike Mc
Elroy
Local
707 Highway Motor Freight
is
located at
14
Front Street ~ 3rd Floor
Hempstead, NY 11550
Local 707 Upstate Union Office
is located at 948 Homestead Avenue Route 208 Maybrook, NY 12543 |
Telephone Numbers
Hempstead LI Office
Main Number: (516)486-7100
Local Union: (516)560-8509
Local Union Fax: (516)486-7164
Upstate
Union Office
Main
Number:
(845)427-2000
Upstate Union Fax: (845)427-5507
Health, Welfare & Pension
Funds Office
Main Number: 1-800-366-3707
Funds Fax: (516)486-7375
|
Long Island Business News
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