Thursday Morning One Liners: CWA & IBEW Win Battle vs Verizon

Found on Twitter: According to #Romney's logic, he could not win the vote of his Dad, who would be one of the 47% via @MoveOn #47percent ow.ly/dRfiW

High rents are hitting middle class New Yorkers harder than anywhere else in the country.

Middle-income renters, defined as those earning between $35,000 and $75,000 annually, face the most pressure in Manhattan, where 45% pay rent that is officially "unaffordable." But even those living in less expensive Staten Island and Queens aren't much better off. There, 44% of middle-class residents in both boroughs shoulder unaffordable housing costs.
According to the study, 30% of New Yorkers devote more than half their income to rent alone. The high cost of living here is threatening to drive the middle class out of the city, Mr. Liu said.

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120919/ECONOMY/120919873#ixzz271FO9JNy

CWA& IBEW Win battle w/ Verizon after 13-month negotiation.  Read the statement from the CWA.

More @ Crain's NY: Verizon reaches a tentative contract

Good Read: WNYC looks at New York's 47%.

Elsewhere: Profiting from Climate Change: Oil companies rush to the arctic to drill as glaciers melt.

Monday Mornin' News Briefs: 8/12-8/15

Steven Greenhouse from the NYTimes: In Strike Verizon, Union trade Barbs.
45,000 workers began their strike against Verizon Communications last Sunday, their unions have repeatedly stressed one point: Verizon’s push for concessions would “destroy middle-class jobs” and “push workers out of the middle class.”

From union-busting at home to labor violations, and alleged sweatshop conditions overseas, Target's honeymoon is over, via Working in These Times.

Islip Patch checks out Aldi in Bayshore, their first Long Island shop.

The Street is wondering what Walmart stands for nowadays, as they are no longer the 'everyday low price'.  What they stand for? Here's a starting point for the people @The Street, low wages, discrimination, destroying small businesses and communities. 

Walmart even made a bid to purchase BJ's Wholesale Club earlier this summer.

In Bristol, CT, Walmart is hunting for more of the grocery business.

Here's Walmart's new "Healthy, Environmental, Sustainable" pitch to New Yorkers, in their mailer to the Park Slope area.

SN: Pressures Face Walmart in NYC.


Walmart continues to buy its way into Brooklyn.
 
Editorial: Walmart's arrival would benefit them, not us...[Amsterdam News]

UFCW Local 23 Kroger workers rejected an offer from the company on Friday.

Bloomberg News: Seven UFCW chapters to vote on strike.

Bethpage Federal Credit Union in Levittown King Kullen was robbed last week.

The Fresh Market continues to expand, opening 2 new stores in the Pittsburgh area.

The closed Stella D'oro factory in the Bronx will become a BJ's Wholesale Club in 2013.

A Penny per a pound, AlterNet asks why won't the "progressive" Trader Joe's sign the agreement not to sell slave tomatoes? [WSJ]

#politics, #elsewhere
On Recall Elections, NYTimes: Wisconsin's Warning to Union-Busters.

Check out how your elected officials voted this year with AFL-CIO's scorecard. 

As economy dips, picket lines on the rise.

Be cautious of what you post on Facebook...

In a recent ground-breaking case, an employee of the American Medical Response of Connecticut was fired for criticism of her supervisor on her Facebook page. The medical technician was accused of violating a policy that bars employees from depicting the company “in any way” on Facebook or other social media sites, among other things.

Fired up, ready to fight: 2011 Jobs with Justice national convention highlights.