Tim Kennedy - Owned By Union Interests
There is a big battle looming on Thursday in the Erie County Legislature. As reported by local red-jacketed muckraker Stefan Mychajliw on Channel 2 last night, the EC Legislature will vote on an override of Joel Giambra’s veto of a bill requiring that all public construction projects be awarded to firms participating in “apprenticeship” programs. To cut through the doublespeak, that should read as “Make sure all contracts go to the union guys”.
Tim Kennedy was the sponsor of the bill that he declares will “help keep our young people in Buffalo”. Uh, ok.
Tim evidently has an interest in seeing that union companies are awarded lucrative public works contracts…his agenda might be transparent if Erie County would make a list of campaign contributions available to the public on their lackluster website.
The original measure passed by an 11-4 margin and they will need 10 votes to override the veto of the County Executive. What does local political gadfly and Conservative Party chairman Ralph Lorigo have to say about this?
“The great majority of the contractors in this area are not unionized, and therefore do not have apprentice programs. In fact, 85-percent of the construction workforce in Erie County is non-union workforce,” said Lorigo, who also believes Kennedy’s measure violates State law by crippling competition.
“This law needs modifications. It should not go into effect,” added the Erie County Conservative Party Chairman.
I tend to agree. The law is specifically targeted to drive membership in the local trade unions and drive revenue for those companies who are unionized. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. In case anyone is wondering, we already have training programs through BOCES…
Giambra: “From BOCES, they have very specific training in the trades for carpentry, plumbing, electrical and the like. There’s training courses offered by Erie Community College. And nothing replaces on the job experience.”
Forcing public construction to be awarded to union contractors reduces competition and raises the cost of public works projects. Let the free market compete with the union cabal, perhaps we’ll all be the better for it.
Contact your legislator and encourage them to advocate for free market competition.
If you are unsure as to who your legislator is, refer to the district map.
Contact information for all local legislators can be found here.
March 15th, 2006 at 9:14 pm
Good point Buffalo Geek. This has to be shot down.
Red has some thoughts on this and has started a thread over at http://www.redsbasement.wordpress.com
Competition is good. We want that in our county. This piece of legislation is bad.
March 16th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
[...] Today, the Erie County Legislature capitulated to increasing public pressure and sent the anti-free market construction bill to committee. They have 30 days to muster an override of Giambra’s veto and by sending it to committee, they have essentially guaranteed that they won’t make that deadline. [...]
March 17th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
[...] Yesterday, she stood up for change. As noted earlier, Ms. Locklear led the charge against the Apprenticeship Training Law pending before the legislature. The motion was tabled…here is what she had to say about the proposed law in the West Seneca Bee: The Erie County Legislature is empowered to pass laws that both directly and indirectly impact the lives and businesses of the County’s residents. Yielded thoughtlessly, this power can result in unfair, biased laws that foster favoritism and oppression. The currently pending “Apprenticeship Training Law†is a shining example of how this lawmaking power can go awry. [...]
March 27th, 2006 at 6:59 am
kennedy ooooooooooooooooooooooowned
March 27th, 2006 at 7:00 am
hahahaha kennedy got owned
September 12th, 2007 at 9:15 am
[...] and accountability in government and has advocated for a new direction from the typical union pandering and backroom deals which typify our the legislative [...]