Tennessee Labor Coverage

CWA Press Release: "Verizon's Cuts are Bad for Workers, Bad for the Economy"

2011-08-19T17:43:00.000-05:00

Support Our Local Verizon Workers! Most recent Press Release Below:

"Aug 19, 2011

Contact: Candice Johnson or Chuck Porcari, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org and cporcari@cwa-union.org

Statement by CWA Communications Director Candice Johnson:

Washington, D.C. -- A recent analysis by Morgan Stanley shows that Verizon’s net income from ongoing operations was $13.9 billion in 2010. That’s up more than 16 percent from 2007.

Then why is this very profitable company demanding cuts in compensation of $20,000 per worker per year? Why is this very profitable company looking for contract changes to enable it to send even more jobs overseas? Verizon now contracts out and offshores about 25,000 jobs. Why doesn’t it want to maintain good jobs in our communities?

Across the country, local, state and national elected officials are joining Verizon picket lines and sending letters of support for the 45,000 workers who are taking a stand against Verizon’s attempt to push them out of the middle class.

Yesterday in Binghampton, N.Y., the mayor and city council members called on Verizon to make sure “everyone has a part of the American Dream.” That means good jobs. Local elected officials know that good jobs mean communities that can thrive.

Verizon’s approach is wrong for workers and wrong for the economy. There will never be an economic recovery if wealthy companies like Verizon can demand huge cuts from workers while sending more jobs overseas and enriching top executives."

To learn more, visit CWA's website, HERE

Stand Up with Verizon Workers

2011-08-17T13:52:00.002-05:00

Over the past few years, big business and politicians have increasingly used the "economic downturn" to justify slashing jobs and cutting benefits. Meanwhile company executives enjoy the benefits of increasing profits. 45,000 Verizon workers across the country are currently on strike, standing up to the company's attack on their jobs and refusal to negotiate.

Join them and show your support by visiting CWA's website and signing the petition:

Visit CWA's website here

We'll do our best to keep you updated as to how you can stand up with Verizon workers against big business' continuing attack on all American workers.

Nashville Seven Acquitted!

2011-07-17T11:25:00.002-05:00

Below is the official statement of the Nashville Seven, who were acquitted on Friday of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest for protesting at a TN senate committee meeting on March 15, 2011.

"Judge Declares Chattanooga Woman, Legislative Protesters Not Guilty" - Chattanooga Times Free Press (7-15-11)

"Protesters Who Disrupted Senate Hearing Acquitted" - Associated Press (7-15-11)

"Seven found not guilty in Capitol protest" - Commercial Appeal (7-15-11)

Watch videos from the March 15 protest inside the senate committee meeting here.

View photos from inside the committee meeting here.

Statement from the Nashville Seven

Chattanooga/Memphis, TN – 7-17-11 – On March 15, hundreds of people from across Tennessee, including workers from AFSCME Local 1733 who are facing the threat of privatization in Memphis, stood up against the legislature's coordinated assault on public employees, women, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, communities of color and the environment—attacks that were orchestrated to consolidate the wealth and power of a minority of people.

After a large demonstration and a day of lobbying, union members and labor activists were eager to hear a senate committee discuss four anti-union bills. The seven of us arrested for engaging in passive resistance were among scores of people who stood up to have their voices heard after it became evident that the senate committee was not going to acknowledge the issues affecting the people in the room. Our acquittal exposes the arrogance of legislators, particularly those from the right wing, who think they have the power not only to strip away the rights of workers, but also to overstep their legislative role by ordering the arrest of those who speak out against unjust bills.

Despite massive public opposition, these attacks on workers continue at all levels of government—state, federal, and local. But our victory in court has reinforced what people across the country already know: when our government fails to listen to the people they are supposed to serve, it is our right and responsibility to disrupt the ordinary flow of business and demand to be heard.

It is our hope that the actions of all those who stood up on March 15 will encourage more Tennesseans to consider diversifying their tactics, including nonviolent direct action, in the movement for social justice, workers' rights, and grassroots democracy.

Contacts:

Chattanooga - Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson
phone: (423) 794-6434
email: HendersonAW at gmail dot com

Memphis - Sally Monteith Joyner
phone: (901) 734-3160
email: monteith at gmail dot com

Radical Arts Memphis Speaks Out Against Privatization

2011-07-14T16:10:00.000-05:00

Read about their performance piece "Memphis: 1968 & Now" on their blog.

Watch a video of the performance here.

Public Unions Fight Back

2011-07-11T19:20:00.003-05:00

A coalition of unions representing public workers—AFSCME, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Fire Fighters, Memphis Police Association, and ten others—has filed a class action suit in federal court, alleging that the Memphis City Council circumvented the city's impasse ordinance, Section 5-4-13, when approving pay cuts.

The impasse ordinance provides a procedure for the city to follow when negotiations fail with the public unions. This procedure allows the unions to petition the city council to accept their terms rather than the city's terms; regardless of which terms the council adopts, the council must then accept the terms fully without making changes.

Because the city successfully completed negotiations with the unions in March without invoking the procedure, the unions argue the city circumvented the impasse ordinance when the council imposed a 4.6% pay cut on city workers, revoked death benefits to surviving families of city employees, and passed a buyout plan for sanitation workers. According to the complaint, these changes were inconsistent with agreements as reflected in Memoranda of Understanding between the city and the unions, which "became the final agreements between the Unions and the City as of April 1, 2011."

By circumventing the impasse ordinance, the unions claim that the due process rights of the workers they represent were violated because they are being deprived economic benefits to which they are entitled under their Memoranda of Understanding without recourse. The unions further claim that the city violated the unions' right to petition because the city broke its agreements with the unions rather than complying with the procedure provided in the impasse ordinance in a timely manner.

The unions are seeking damages as well as injunctions to force the council to comply with the provisions of the current Memoranda of Understanding

Memphis' Public Employee Unions Sue City to Block Pay Cuts, Commercial Appeal (7/11/11)

Unions to City: See You in Court, Fox 13 (7/11/11)

Municipal Unions Sue City Over Budget, The Daily News (7/11/11)

City Charged with Union-Busting Efforts as Federal Suit is Filed, Memphis Flyer (7/12/11)

Press Release: Memphis Unions File Lawsuit Against City, AFSCME Local 1733 (7/11/11)

Commercial Appeal Reports Facts

2011-07-10T09:26:00.002-05:00

Is it a red letter day? Or too little too late?

While local media outlets continue to have their heads buried deeply in the sand regarding the purpose of the buyout plan (although Mayor Wharton has candidly admitted it will lead to privatization), the Commercial Appeal decides that now is the time to throw down some facts for the people of Memphis.

Well thank you, CA, for finally taking the privatization issue seriously enough to get some incredibly important information out there to us: outsourcing sanitation services does not save money for cities like Memphis. Now if only we can go back in time to two months ago when privatization was proposed by Councilman Kemp Conrad or anytime last month during the budget free-for-all, it might have mattered.

At least the article is helpful in a Ghost-of-Christmas-Yet-to-Come kind of way:

New Orleans, which has a long history of contracting with private companies to pick up household trash, last put solid waste collection services out for bid in 2005. Three companies won contracts to pick up trash in different parts of the city. The companies would report the addresses where they collected trash and the city would pay a certain amount for each pick-up.

Last year, Quatrevaux released a report that said city oversight of the trash collection contracts was so lacking that it was impossible to determine if the city was paying contractors the proper amount. That was an urgent question, because the cost of private trash collection for the city nearly doubled between 2004 and 2010, rising from $18.74 million to $35 million. The lack of oversight also exposed the city to risk from lawsuits, he said, because the city had not verified that contractors had the proper insurance and indemnified the city for any damages they caused.

In a follow-up evaluation in October 2010, Quatrevaux's office took a statistically valid sample of billed addresses and attempted to verify them. Quatrevaux said that they found enough ineligible addresses, such as businesses or the sites of demolished houses[...]

Sound familiar? Now Memphians will get to pay for trash pick-up at the demolished homes where we are already paying to board up non-existent windows.

The buyout could be brought up again while the City Council continues to tweak the 2012 budget, but after being spun as a charity measure for the workers rather than an attrition plan (deceiving even Councilwoman Janis Fullilove, who proposed the measure in good faith) there might not be the political will.

Read the article here.

Living Wage at Risk for City Workers

2011-07-01T10:51:00.001-05:00

In its "updated" version of an article that originally praised Mayor Wharton for spreading the burden of 12 unpaid holidays around as a 4.6% pay cut for all pay periods, the Commercial Appeal is finally reporting on the obvious consequence of the pay cut: the living wage ordinance will be violated.

Shelley Seeberg, administrator of AFSCME Local 1733, blasted the pay cuts as well as tax breaks for corporations.

"As of July 1, the city will have workers who make less than the living wage ... ," she said. "At the same time the city continues to give millions of dollars in corporate incentives and property tax breaks. One has to ask, what is the priority of Memphis elected officials?"

Of course the CA is not satisfied to leave it at that without the stock neoliberal response:

Council member Kemp Conrad, who pushed for steep budget reductions, said private-sector growth is the only way to cure the city's financial ills.

"This decision was not made lightly and was a difficult one and we are thankful for their service to the city, but at the end of the day we can't rely on the government to create jobs," he said. "That's why we are working as hard as we can to generate private-sector employment through more corporate expansions and relocations."

Read the full article here.

Unfortunately, only rarely in the Memphis media does anyone question the legitimacy of this notion that market-based government restructuring and development-from-above hold the answers to the city's problems. While decreased federal and state funding force cities to look inward for solutions to budget crises, local governments turn to race-to-the-bottom competition as a panacea; however, large-scale privatization of our schools and public services effectively disenfranchises urban residents both politically as well as in decisions concerning neighborhood development.

We see the contradictions of market-based solutions in the abandoned buildings that lie empty and the public housing being bulldozed, while large developments primarily in downtown area are infused with millions in tax abatements, so that the wealthiest parts of the city become effectively property-tax-free zones. The decrease in property tax revenue affects the poor the most, who must live with decreased services while making up the difference with increased property taxes.

Most of our Council members buy into this ethically and logically bankrupt neoliberal philosophy, which plays out in the endless cycle of tax abatements for corporations and cuts and layoffs for workers, as noted by AFSCME Administrator Shelley Seeberg. Who benefits? The corporations who but-for tax abatements would still be located in Memphis, as well as those who cut-and-run once the abatement time is over. Politicians who sell neoliberal philosophy as the "common sense" and "practical" answers to poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy also benefit; they ooze legitimacy because they are never questioned in Memphis.

UPDATE:

AFSCME headed to the courts!

Read more.

City of Memphis to Lay off 125 Workers

2011-06-30T15:12:00.002-05:00

"Friday may be the last day at work for 125 city employees from nearly all divisions of city government. The layoffs, estimated to save the city $9.9 million, are one of several budget-cutting measures approved by the Memphis City Council last week. City employees will also see a 4.6 percent pay reduction beginning Friday. The reduction is being instituted as an alternative to the previously approved furlough strategy of eliminating holiday pay for city employees. The 4.6 percent reduction is equivalent to 12 paid holidays."

Read Full Article Here
Read An Editorial Here

Post-Budget Approval Media Roundup

2011-06-24T18:45:00.011-05:00

News coverage following Tuesday’s City Council meeting, particularly concerning Councilwoman Janis Fullilove’s buyout plan, runs the gamut from insightful to oblivious, with the most important pieces coming from the Tri-State Defender.

________________________________________________

The Tri-State Defender’s Linda Wallace exposed the provenance of Councilman Kemp Conrad’s privatization proposal’s mystery statistics. During the privatization debate, Conrad would not divulge where he got the numbers that led him to claim — and others to report without question — that privatization would save the city $20 million each year.

This figure was one of the pro-privatization rallying cries, along with other dubious stats, such as the non-comparable number of stops our city services make verses the number of stops private sanitation services make. Conrad's privatization proposal has never been about finding ways to save the city money:

“We provided him (Conrad) some numbers,” said Ashford, after the department was approached about “what if we did this and what if we did that.”

“We tried to provide the best we could. We didn’t have bids or anything like that or the opportunity to bid services to get exact figures,” said Ashford. “Really, all we had to go on was numbers that we had received in the most recent bid for services, which started in July 2009 when we began our last contract with the current private hauler that we had.”

Using those old bid prices, the department calculated that the cost for private pick up would be $15 per home. That estimate, however, is out of line with current market prices.

Read the full article: "Talking Trash: Big Business, Powerful Friends" (6-23-11)

On Tuesday night, an intergenerational, rainbow coalition gathered at City Hall to argue that the widespread loss of public jobs might strip many hard-working Memphians of the rights won during the civil rights movement. Privatization, they argued, had the power to do to them precisely what racism had done: jeopardize their ability to own homes, find jobs and support their families.

Read the full article: "Budget wars: If Blacks Lose Ground, Can Memphis Make Progress?" (6-23-11)

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In his articles for the Flyer, Jackson Baker explains that the only thing transparent about Tuesday’s meeting was that much of what went down was clearly a total charade, or as he put it, a “dog and pony show”:

Ultimately two dog-and-pony shows went on. The first began with a proposal from Councilwoman Janis Fullilove that the city set aside a fund — it started at $6 million and later got upped to $13 million — expressly to allow city sanitation workers to request, and get, voluntary buyouts in sums ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 apiece, calibrated to age and tenure in some way yet to be determined.
...
Once Fullilove moved for the buyout, there was none of the shock among her colleagues that might have accompanied a surprise proposal. This one clearly had been group-vetted and had the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

Read the full article: "The City Budget Deal for Dummies: How It Went Down And Why It May Not Work " (6/23/11)

The exact origin of Fullilove’s proposal — essentially to allow for workers to put in for voluntary buyouts, apparently independent of any fixed retirement age but according to a sliding scale relative to time on the job — is shrouded in mystery.

Read the full article: "The Sun Also Rises (And the City Council Manages to Agree on a Budget!)" (6/22/11)

________________________________________________

Although WKNO's Eleanor Boudreau makes a cringe-inducing assertion that Councilwoman Fullilove's buyout was "an effort to placate still angry union members," she does catch the Mayor in a remarkable attempt to reconcile his anti-privatization stance with his support of a buyout that will lead to privatization (but not the "hated" type):

"... As you eliminate staff, you won't be able to do the services and so that could potentially lead to privatization," [AFSCME 1733 Administrator Shelley] Seeberg said.

The mayor doesn't disagree with her on that.

"You're absolutely right," Wharton said, "if there are vacancies, if there are routes that are not covered, and there are no employees. Nobody would be displaced. So, when I say no privatization, nobody is going to be displaced. Privatization means taking jobs that incumbents have and giving it to a private company. Losing jobs. These people will voluntarily leave their jobs. So, it's not privatization in the sense that is so hated.
Read the full article: "Again, I AM A MAN" (6-22-11)

________________________________________________

ABC 24's Joy Lambert interviews Councilwoman Wanda Halbert, the only Council member to directly express concerns about the buyout during the council meeting:

With about 600 sanitation workers in the department, the $13 million in the plan could cover more than 300 workers. Which, if they jump on this, Halbert says, the department could lose half its' employees.

"Over the course of the last four years," says Councilwoman Halbert, "we've heard the concerns that we didn't have enough employees. So now if we're allowing them to exit, which is ok, then what do we do with the services? Are we going to rehire or do we send it to an outsourced company? Those are the only two options."

Read the article: "Details Scarce on $13 Million Sanitation Worker Buyout Plan" (6-22-11)

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Jill Moiner of Fox 13 calls Councilwoman Fullilove's so-called voluntary retirement offer what it is: "an attrition buyout."

Read the full article: "Memphis Sanitation Worker Buyout Plan Still Full of Holes" (6-22-11)

________________________________________________

In The Daily News, Bill Dries confidently asserts that the City Council "was never considering a proposal that died two weeks ago to privatize sanitation services" while glossing over AFSCME's concerns that Councilwoman Fullilove's buyout scheme legitimated their fears that steps towards privatization would be taken.

Read the full article: "Council Approves City Budget With One Time 18 Cent Tax Hike" (6-22-11)

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The Flyer's John Branston also makes the error of assuming that Councilwoman Fullilove's buyout scheme was in response to the sanitation workers' pleas for fairness:

The first three hours of the meeting belonged to AFSCME. A few dozen people spoke, including union rank-and-file and supporters, both black and white, young and old. Most of the speeches were delivered with gusto, and the meeting sounded like a union rally at times. The show of strength apparently worked, as the buyout plan, which was proposed by Councilwoman Janice Fullilove, was something of a surprise. It passed unanimously.

Read the full article: "City Council Passes $661 Million Operating Budget" (6-21-11)

View Our Photos Here

Labor Notes Article on Memphis City Government's Attack on Sanitation Workers

2011-06-24T11:26:00.001-05:00

"The city faces a $60 million budget shortfall and council members are selling the privatization proposal with claims it could save about $18 million a year. Local media support the bid uncritically."

Read Article Here

Listen to "Labor Talk" Now!

2011-06-18T15:21:00.003-05:00

Tune into KWAM AM-990 for Labor Talk - a new radio program featuring local union leaders discussing labor and politics in Memphis.

Saturdays, 3-4pm

Listen Live Here

AFSCME Local 1733 Administrator Sets the Record Straight

2011-06-18T12:13:00.001-05:00

In a letter to the editor of the Commercial Appeal, AFSCME Local 1733 Administrator Shelley Seeburg sets the record straight on privatization and corrects the misinformation spread by Council members and the media about the work of our garbage collectors.

Read Letter Here

UCW Wins Higher Wages for Univ. of Tennessee Employees

2011-06-16T11:30:00.001-05:00

"In an email sent to all UT system employees this afternoon UT President DiPietro made the pay raise announcement official, pending Board of Trustee approval, and we won what we've been fighting for: flat dollar minimums ($1,000 for most employees, as much as $2,600 for the lowest paid). This is wonderful news, and with the increase in base pay to $8.50 it is also a major milestone in the campaign for Living Wages on campuses across the state. We hope that TBR Chancellor John Morgan and other members of TBR leadership will deciede to take a similar approach with pay raises on their campuses."

Read UCW Announcement Here

Press Release Regarding Memphis Mainstream Media's Intentional Villainization of Independent Political Media

2011-06-16T03:55:00.004-05:00

For Immediate Release:

Plea for Memphis Mainstream Media and City Government to Cease the Attack on Independent Media Which Attempts to Connect Tennessee Labor Coverage's Video Content to "Twitter Threats":

Memphis, TN - 6/16/2011

Tennessee Labor Coverage categorically condemns all acts of violence, including threats of violence, whether perpetrated by individuals or the state.

The bizarre threat recently made against Councilman Kemp Conrad's family by Twitter user PictureManeCain has served as an unfortunate distraction from the critically important privatization/managed competition debate in which we all should be actively engaged.

So that we may return to focusing on our independent advocacy against privatization, it is necessary for us to correct misrepresentations and misinformation put forth by the media and some City Council members concerning TLC and privatization.

Several weeks ago, TLC distributed a video featuring Councilman Reid Hedgepeth’s remarks during a City Council budget hearing in which he explained that he wasn’t knowledgeable about the “era” of 1968 because he had not been born yet and that he had an “African-American roommate” in college. Juxtaposed with these statements were clips from the 1968 march for Memphis sanitation workers led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as Council members' own campaign materials, which incidentally included family members.

This video was far tamer than any of the political parodies featured in sketch comedy or on late night talk shows. There is nothing threatening about the video, and its content is intended to emphasize the absurdity of these Councilmen’s awkward comments and the disingenuous nature of their election campaigns.

On June 13, a FOX 13 newscast claimed that Mayor Wharton responded to the TLC videos with threats of an investigation. The reporter described Mayor Wharton’s anger over the TLC videos in his theatrical introduction to footage, which depicted the Mayor stating that the responsible parties would be “dealt with.” After viewing the report, we sought help from the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU wrote a letter to the Mayor defending the First Amendment rights of TLC.

According to the Commercial Appeal, Mayor Wharton was insulted by this letter, claiming his statements concerning an investigation referred only to the Twitter threat. If this is so, then Mayor Wharton should chastise FOX 13 for their sloppy, irresponsible reporting—not the ACLU.

Even more embarrassingly for FOX 13 and WMC 5, they continued to push the line that Mayor Wharton is investigating the identity of TLC bloggers, rather than the identity of the Tweeter, as recently as June 15. Do they read our major daily newspaper? Their sensationalist reporting would indicate otherwise—but who can blame them when it is impossible to believe what our local media reports.

This type of sloppy, irresponsible reporting has characterized nearly all media coverage—print and television—of the privatization issue. The problem with misinformation spread by Council members, particularly Councilman Conrad, is that once it is printed, it lives in perpetuity and is treated as a legitimate part of the debate.

For example, the Commercial Appeal has printed that sanitation workers work for four hours but are paid for eight. Director of Public Services Dwan Gilliom has stated directly to Councilman Conrad during public meetings that his claim is untrue. The Commercial Appeal also printed statistics directly from Councilman Conrad's privatization proposal as if they were facts, without explaining that he was falsely comparing the number of stops made by our comprehensive curbside collection services with stops for limited, one-can pick-up. Under the proposed privatization scheme, the residents of Memphis will bear the burden and cost of hauling fallen trees, bagged leaves, and all other trash and debris that does not fit within one trash receptacle to a dump.

For some incomprehensible reason both FOX 13 and WMC 5 have reported that the City Council voted against privatization, which is absolutely false—the City Council has rejected a slipshod voluntary buy-out plan proposed by Councilman Hedgepeth. Privatization has not yet been proposed. City Council members have indicated that privatization probably will not pass, but they will likely push forward with a managed competition proposal when they finalize the budget on June 21.

Because our media is clearly not interested in informing the residents of Memphis about the pros and cons of privatization and managed competition, it falls on us educate ourselves on these issues. TLC has written an overview on the privatization issue in Memphis to address this gap, which also provides links to studies and articles on relevant topics.

In our previous coverage, we have focused on 1968 because history is important—but despite the deceptive media narrative of “nostalgia versus fiscal responsibility,” as Memphians we believe that privatization and managed competition will not benefit the City of Memphis financially or otherwise. While it is unlikely that the media will now decide to seriously examine the relevant aspects of the privatization debate, we hope this statement will at least clarify our position.

Our Overview on the Privatization Issue in Memphis

Flyer Distributed by Local Activists on Managed Competition and Privatization

May 9th - Introduction to Conrad's Scheme to Get Richer at the Expense of Our Sanitation Workers

2011-06-16T00:33:00.001-05:00

ACLU Press Release Telling Wharton and City Council to Stop Harassing Tennessee Labor Coverage

2011-06-14T17:24:00.003-05:00

Statement from the ACLU:

ACLU of Tennessee Demands That the City of Memphis Cease Intimidation of Labor Activist

Activist Threatened and Freedom of Speech Rights Violated

MEMPHIS - ACLU of Tennessee today hand delivered a letter to City of Memphis officials demanding they respect the First Amendment rights of a local labor blogger. The letter insists that government immediately stop intimidation tactics and the demands to remove the blogger's video of public events.

“The local government’s persecution of political speech they do not like is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. It is ironic that on the 40^th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers, we are yet again faced with a situation where government is trying to silence speech by intimidation,” said ACLU-TN cooperating attorney Bruce Kramer.

The author of the blog, Tennessee Labor Coverage, has been covering labor issues surrounding attempts to dissolve the collective bargaining rights of sanitation workers in Memphis and the issue of privatization of sanitation services. He recorded and posted videos of public events where the issue was discussed. The blogger was harassed by various city officials for taping the events. In addition, Mayor Wharton of Memphis has stated publicly that the person behind the videos will “be dealt with.”

“We hope that Mayor Wharton and other city officials will recognize the value of transparency and support the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech which enhances political debate and ensures more thoughtful policies,” said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN Executive Director. “Attempting to silence the opposing voices by bullying and threats is not only dangerous and unconstitutional but creates an atmosphere much less conducive to the creation of good laws and policies.”

In addition to Kramer, the labor blogger who will remain anonymous is represented by Tricia Herzfeld, ALCU-TN Legal Director.

ACLU-TN’s letter can be found at: http://www.aclu-tn.org/pdfs/LaborLtrMemphis2011.pdf

The blog and videos can be viewed at: www.tennesseelaborcoverage.com

Additional information about the ACLU of Tennessee is available online at: www.aclu-tn.org.

City Government's Attack on Independent Media Continues

2011-06-14T15:22:00.003-05:00

In a Desperate Effort to silence independent media, Mayor Wharton and Councilman Conrad have begun claiming Councilman Conrad's family is being threatened due to Tennessee Labor Coverage's use of one of Conrad's campaign photos where he was pictured with his family. A Twitter account, most likely registered in City Hall, anonymously posted threatening comments.

Tennessee Labor Coverage's media has in no way suggested threats or harassment against Councilman Conrad's family. This is a cheap and dishonest attempt to justify Conrad, Hedgepeth, and Wharton's attempts to silence one of the only pro-labor media outlet in Memphis.

We will continue covering Memphis politics, despite this most recent scheme and despite the Mayor's threats to have those responsible for Tennessee Labor Coverage "dealt with."

We'll Continue Investigating Wharton's Private Dealings, Despite His Public Threat Against Our 1st Amendment Rights

2011-06-13T23:56:00.000-05:00

Mayor Wharton's public threat to have those responsible for Tennessee Labor Coverage "dealt with" will not keep us from continuing to provide the public with information and videos regarding the Mayor and the City Council.

Police Association VP Discusses Attack on Public Sector

2011-06-13T22:54:00.002-05:00

Rally for All: Speech from Shelley Seeberg of AFSCME, Mulroy and Cohen Disagree with Privatization

2011-06-13T19:27:00.000-05:00

"I'm not going to tolerate it," Memphis Mayor Vows Attack 1st Amendment Rights of Critical Media

2011-06-13T18:56:00.001-05:00

Memphis Mayor Vows those Responsible for Tennessee Labor Coverage "will be dealt with."

Tennessee Labor Coverage will continue to provide pro-labor news and information despite the Mayor's threats and attempts at intimidation.

Wharton Probes Videos Aimed at Council Members: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

NAFTA Policies Lead to Job Loss in TN

2011-06-13T18:42:00.003-05:00

"EPI reported in May that the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico that followed NAFTA’s passage in 1994 has displaced 682,000 jobs in the U.S., and that Tennessee—despite its low wages and hostility to unions—has been one of the hardest-hit states."

Read Article Here

Sanitation worker, AFSCME member, and union supporter respond to Conrad's corporate privatization scheme

2011-06-11T18:15:00.003-05:00

While Councilmen Hedgepeth, Conrad, and Flinn keep Memphis a tax-haven for corporations like FedEx and Autozone, they're desperately pushing the privatization of sanitation, against overwhelming criticism from the people of Memphis, and for the sole benefit of a private waste management corporation.

"Do the right thing. Leave your public servants alone."

- union member's plea to city council

City Councilmen Target Tennessee Labor Coverage

2011-06-10T18:14:00.002-05:00

Council Members Cry Foul on YouTube Videos: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Caricature of Councilmen Hedgepeth and Conrad distributed June 7th at Budget Meeting.

June 7: Councilman Conrad and Hedgepeth view their own caricature.

The artist later received harassing warnings pertaining to

potential legal action.

City Councilmen Hedgepeth, Conrad, and Flinn have begun a campaign to silence Tennessee Labor Coverage, as we've been one of the only local media outlets providing criticism of their privatization scheme.

Tennessee Labor Coverage received notice from Youtube that an individual had requested our videos be removed for "privacy concerns." Tennessee Labor Coverage will fight for our right to continue to provide relevant news, information, and videos on Conrad, Flinn, and Hedgepeth's attempt to crush labor and destroy the legacy of the '68 Sanitation Strike.

June 7: Councilmen Conrad and Hedgepeth hide conversation from

audience enraged by their attempt to erase civil rights history.

Apologies to Councilman Flinn of Flinn Broadcasting, one of the largest media conglomerates in the South, but it seems as if a few broke young folks with borrowed and broken gear just interrupted your well-planned media strategy.

Money, power, harassment, and threats will not prevent Tennessee Labor Coverage from providing independent, pro-labor news and information.

Stay tuned to national news sources through the weekend. Expect big news this Monday.

Check out our Youtube channel here

(note the "photographs of family members" which they're complaining about were actually used in their election campaigns)

Paul Broun (Rep-GA) Insults Public Workers

2011-06-09T17:34:00.000-05:00