ABRAMSON SCREWS LABOR AGAIN

This article is a few days late due to lack of time to write. Abramson, as we now know, vetoed the latest labor ordinance by the Metro Council. Is anyone surprised?

In 2006 during the arena talks a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) was asked to be included. Ultimately it was not. I was the only one to stand up for labor in this regard.

With the latest safety problems and concrete collapse on the arena one has to wonder if using local skilled labor could have helped avoid this. Would local labor have taken more pride in doing things the right way and safest way since they live in this community?

Who knows.

I do know this much. I cannot fathom how any union, or anyone in labor, can back Abramson for anything even as dog catcher in any future race. He continues to prove time and time again that he does not care about labor or local jobs.

I read the LEO article today and their take on it. You can view it here: Live or let die? Louisville's Alt-Weekly LEO Weekly

Great article and many things jumped out at me when I read it.

From LEO's article:

In a letter to Metro Council, the mayor stated the labor standards ordinance that passed last week would put Louisville at a serious disadvantage with competitor cities and create obstacles to job growth. Abramson, who’d been in budget meetings most of the day, further suggested the city bill would impose unnecessary mandates on private investors that receive public funding.

Um Mr. Mayor, and I use the term loosely, what disadvantage would that be? It only affects those doing work in excess of $500,000. Could it be it would hurt your in pocket buddies at Cordish?

I mean a living wage made by locals would be spent where? In the local community, by wow you guessed it, local employees. Spending by locals in the local community also creates secondary jobs as well. And since you yourself state that most of our tax revenue comes from employee taxes, isn't this a far better approach than using your out of towners to line your pockets and take our money with them?

Or perhaps you could continue running local business out of business like perhaps City Block by unfair competitive advantages you give to out of towners like Cordish.

He goes further to state this:

"“The last thing we need is an impediment or hurdle or an obstacle placed in front of opportunities for investment by businesses and the creation of jobs,” he said during a press conference announcing the veto. "


So can we expect your resignation anytime soon? YOU are the biggest obstacle to Louisville and have been for quite some time. It is NOT labor costs as you like to suggest. That is a tax write off for business.

Your pay to play schemes and excess taxation are what causes business to stay away from here. NOT fair wages and jobs for local citizens.

When pressed about what specific language in the bill prompted the veto, the mayor only repeated the same talking points, saying the ordinance would put Louisville at a disadvantage in these tough economic times. Abramson reiterated that job creation should be the first priority for Metro government.

If job creation is the first priority then why are you outsourcing local jobs? This has been a pattern of behavior and a trend for years now.

It must stop.

Charity begins at home. YOUR charitable giving to folks like Cordish and out of town companies, when we have perfectly qualified employers here, are the root of the problem.

And finally this quote from Billy Parsons:

“I feel like after the veto this ordinance should die and go away,” says Billy Parsons, chief executive officer of Associated Builders and Contractors of Kentuckiana Inc., an association representing more than 200 Louisville-area contractors, adding he supports the mayor’s veto.

“You can amend it until the cows come home, but by then no one would want the ordinance.”
Regardless of Metro Council’s intentions, Parsons says it’s a mistake to legislate how companies operate and hire workers during a deepening recession.

“They were going in a direction they had no business in and the mayor was pretty firm in his resolution,” he says. “You cannot, through mandate of an ordinance, control how we play the game.”

When did Billy Parsons get to choose the direction Louisville should go in? That is why we elect representatives. On another note is Parsons saying we do not have the right to enforce mandates by the Council if the veto is overridden? Is he stating publicly that they will play the game anyway they want regardless? That is the norm here sadly and one thing that must stop.

The Associated Builders and Contractors of Kentuckiana made much money during the boom of the 90's at the expense of some low wages for labor. I really do not think they are the greatest people to get quotes from myself.

And for the record Mr. Parsons this is not a board game though you guys are great at playing it.

This game is the game of life and the futures of many depend on how we take care of our own.

While you guys play the game people starve to death, lose their homes, and die in the cold.

This game needs a new set of rules. It starts with new leadership.