Not long before the last municipal election, in fact only a day before, the former city council approved the Responsible Bidder Ordinance. This ordinance requires bidders of city contracts of projects over $25,000 have a worker training program. Essentially this excludes most, if not all, non-union contractors. It was a controversial vote during the height of a hard-fought election. Councilwoman Betsy Stockard, who had been against the RBO for several years, changed her mind and supported the ordinance,. Some claimed that she changed her mind because of campaign funds she received from labor. Councilman Dan Caulkins also supported the ordinance which angered many of the pro-business leaders who had supported him in his first run for city council. Both Stockard and Caulkins were defeated in the last election.
It was assumed that if the ordinance passed, if more pro-business council members were elected to the council, the ordinance would probably be brought back for a new vote and most likely rescinded. In Monday’s council meeting, Councilman Patrick Laegeler began that process and requested the RBO be brought back for a new vote. There are probably four votes of the seven member council who will vote to rescind the ordinance.
This leaves the question: Will every other council approve or rescind the ordinance based upon their feelings on organized labor?
Whats funny is Laegeler wasn’t at the last vote. This is an anti union town so it doesn’t surprise me. For the life of me I still haven’t heard from one contractor why they can’t bid under the RBO guidelines other than they won’t spend the money on training and safety.
Doug, I don’t understand that part either. I’m pretty sure Richland offers workplace safety courses to both union and non-union clients. Caterpillar sends their workers there for safety training. DMH and St. Mary’s also have worker safety training programs.
I’m not sure about the apprenticeship requirement of the RBO. That might be a problem. I’d have to go back and read the ordinance and see what precisely it requires. I’m willing to be flexible to a point, and keep the bidding process open as much as possible, but personally, I think it’s a good idea to require bidders of municipal projects provide safety training for their employees. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all.
There is another company in Decatur that does all this trasining also, the name escapes me right now, but they travel to Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa doing this training. No one wants to spend the extra money, but I would be willing to bet that the extra money they make over the companies that have the training go straight to the owners pockets and not to the employee’s salary.
The corporate and capitalist bias of all major and national newspapers is so taken for granted that it is never considered as a major factor in newspaper decline and demise.
The core income of profit-making mass media is advertising. The advertisers want to reach readers with disposable income who can purchase their products and services. The content of the newspaper must be geared to supplying the needs of these affluent readers. Under no circumstances must any newspaper content alienate or attack or conflict with the profit-seeking advertisers and wealthy readers. Thus the class-bias of the major national print media.
This class bias, decades old, has degenerated into the unending class war propaganda against the economic interests of working people and the working class.
Working people, especially with the 30 year decline and now collapse of U.S. capitalism, have little or no disposable income for new cars, expensive homes, or other non-essential goods and services. The national newspapers no longer have sections of “Help Wanted” ads as millions are unemployed. Why pay 75 cents a day for essentially useless information.
Editorial pages and opinion columns screech about reducing taxes and all tax support public services that increasingly impoverished working people desperately rely upon. Uncritical support of unending wars, wars which are highly profitable to the military-industrial investors and corporations, wars that suck up funds for public services (public schools,hospitals, health,etc.), are forever supported.
The national newspapers typically provide entire sections of interest to the class of wealthy business owners, investors and corporate managers. Stock market reports, investment strategy columns, economic reports, etc. provide the readers interesting and useful information.
No such informational, educational or analysis opinion resources are available in ANY NEWSPAPER to working people. There is never any “Labor” column, or news about the labor movement. There is no information or opinion column where the economic interests of working people are defended or promoted.
Today the only place where information and opinion essential to working people is readily available and free of charge, is on the web. One such place is the World Socialist Web Site: http://www.wsws.org
(Comment seen on the Internets)