Big labor targets Aubertine
by David Sommerstein on May 17th, 2010
The AFL-CIO has set its sights on Democratic State Senators for their votes on furloughs for state workers, delays on construction projects, and other cutbacks and funding reductions as a result of the budget crisis. The union is doing robocalls and sending flyers.
The latest target is Cape Vincent’s Darrel Aubertine. According to the New York Daily News’ Celeste Katz, Aubertine is singled out for killing the Farm Workers bill as chairman of the Senate Agriculture committee.
Aubertine has enjoyed support from labor in the past, especially in union-heavy Massena. It’ll be interesting to see if that changes as he has to cast tough votes to close the state’s $9 billion deficit.
Here’s the Aubertine flyer…
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! The public employee unions are never happy. With respect to charter schools, why don’t they attack Obama? He’s the one he came up with the Race to the Top criteria which requires NY allow charter schools in order to be eligible for 700 million in education aid. Denial of that aid will result in NNY teachers- union members- being laid off, but insulating NYC schools from competition is more important.
And don’t they realize most NYers support a tax cap. “Working families” are being overwhelmed by property taxes. Of course, most NYC residents are renters. The NYS AFL-CIO is based out of NYC- they could care less about NNY.
The interesting thing is Senator Aubertine has already been very directly involved in saving hundreds of high paying union jobs in Ogdensburg at OCF. To say he does not care about union jobs in the North Country is insane. So there must be other factors at play; it really has nothing to do with North Country union jobs it has to do with a Big Labor political plank, as scratchy points out these guys at the national/NYC level could care less about nny union jobs or nny in general.
I drove out to the Potsdam Wal-Mart super center and I still couldn’t find that charter school? Maybe it is hidden behind Cassallas?
After reading this, I just might have to vote for the guy, keep standing up to these destructive, greedy and corrupt unions and you most certainly will have my vote
Hmmm, I’m getting to like Darrel more and more.
ahaha, well I like him a lot. He is to the left of me and I think pretty far the left of you Bret on many issues; but I know that he honestly cares about the average person and family in the North Country and will stand up for what he thinks is right even when he has to go against his own party or large outside interests including Big Labor.
NYS AFL-CIO does not speak for all of us in NNY. I supported him then
and I will even harder for Darrel this.
Well he’s definitely to the left, but not as far to the left as my Assy person Addie Russell. I pray for the day she’s ousted. She’s got to be the most useless, unresponsive official I’ve ever dealt with.