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June 5, 2008
Ratner hosts rally to support…himself!
The Brooklyn Paper
The building trades union called for the shutdown of real job sites this afternoon so that members can attend Bruce Ratner's free-food-and-swag rally, but attendance is optional??
Construction work in booming Downtown will come to a complete halt so that union members can attend a rally in support of the Atlantic Yards project on Thursday at Borough Hall.
“At the request of the Buildings Trades Council ALL JOBSITES in downtown Brooklyn are to shut down at 11:30 am for the Atlantic Yards rally,” read a flier posted on a construction site in Prospect Heights (pictured). “ALL BUILDING TRADE MEMBERS SHOULD ATTEND!”
...
But Ed Malloy, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said that it was a perfect time for his union members to show support for the project.“In our line of work, we have to be optimistic,” he said. “When the economy is good, you see cranes in the air. So we’re attempting as big a turnout [of Yards supporters] as possible. This project would be good for economic development.”
He said his members are not required to attend the rally.
“It’s not like there are sanctions or an attendance sheet, or anything,” he said. “But we take these things seriously because our jobs depend on it.”
NoLandGrab: Union workers have been ordered to leave their current jobs at actual jobs sites to rally for a project that is supposed to be a done deal? We don't make this stuff up, really.
Posted by lumi at June 5, 2008 5:07 AM