(BUFFALO) - After waiting three months for a return phone call from Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo AFL-CIO President Michael Hoffert is sounding off - telling WNYLaborToday.com what many would describe as a disrespectful and rude non-response shows a "disregard for Organized Labor" and the 80,000 Union Workers represented by the affiliated member Labor Unions of the Buffalo Council.

After direct calls were made by Hoffert to Mayor Brown's office in the month of November, again in late December and a third time just last week in an attempt to schedule a meeting with no action, the Buffalo AFL-CIO president said he will not only make his council's executive board - but the entire council delegation - aware of the mayor's non-response when the council's holds its next monthly meeting in early February.

"It's made me angry and I don't think there's any excuse for it," said Hoffert, explaining he and other local Labor Leaders - including a number of members of the Buffalo Council's Executive Board - were looking to schedule a meeting with the mayor to discuss the city receiving millions of dollars in Federal Stimulus Funding.  "I will tell our executive board and those Union representatives who attend our February meeting that I made three calls (over three months), gave (Mayor Brown) three opportunities to answer and received no call back."

Mayor Brown has received Union endorsements in the past from a variety of Labor Organizations, as well as endorsements from the local chapter of the Working Families Party, which lists a large number of Labor Organizations and Unions as its members.

What really set Hoffert off, he said, was that he personally spoke with a representative of Brown's staff on Tuesday (January 26th) and for a third time explained what he was seeking to arrange.  "I laid it out, again, that I and several other Labor Leaders wanted to meet with the mayor about the Stimulus money and job creation and was told someone would get back to me that same day.  But I never got a call back," Hoffert said. 

As of the end of the work day on Friday, Hoffert said he still had not received a call back from the mayor's office.  Asked whether the non-response to his calls went beyond being disrespectful and rude, Hoffert said: "Exactly.  (Mayor Brown) has had no problem returning our phone calls when he is seeking (Organized Labor's) support.  He's ignoring Western New York Labor.  It's as if he's blowing us off, that he doesn't care about Organized Labor."

"Apparently he believes Organized Labor is 'insignificant,' and believe me, this isn't about (Michael Hoffert).  It's about speaking to the eighty-thousand members of my Council.  (Organized Labor was behind Mayor Brown) one-hundred percent when he first ran for office.  Mayor Brown also made a campaign promise to hold regular Labor Roundtables (discussions with representatives of Organized Labor), but there's never been one and we haven't been invited (to any meetings).  I've been trying to figure this out.  (Organized Labor) gave (Mayor Brown) the benefit of the doubt, but apparently the man has no interest in Organized Labor.  I'm sure that once this story is published I will get a call (from his office).  (Mayor Brown will) say, 'You'll have my cell phone,' but this isn't the way you treat Organized Labor," Hoffert told WNYLaborToday.com.

In November, Hoffert, as well as several others on the Buffalo AFL-CIO's Executive Council, talked about arranging a sit-down with Mayor Brown to discuss a variety of issues important to Organized Labor - including what "kind of Federal Stimulus money the city has applied for, what it has received, its status and where it's being spent to help the Working People of Buffalo."

In addition, several Unions had expressed an interest in attending a meeting with the mayor, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA).  CWA Local 1122, for example, has questions involving Verizon offering its high-speed Fios communications service in the city.

"We're getting no answers and it's apparent our relationship is getting worse and not better," Hoffert said.  "We're all in this together and our main objective is the creation of jobs across all of Western New York, including Buffalo.  There are many opportunities to create jobs with that Federal Stimulus money in solar and wind technology, for instance.  We consider this a partnership (between Organized Labor) and the mayor's office.  It's not up to me to call (Mayor Brown) all the time.  As a Union Leader, I feel insulted that he has never called me back to discuss the creation of local jobs, the local economy and the role Organized Labor can play.  We can do a lot to help, but we aren't being given the respect (from the mayor).  There's a lot the Buffalo community can benefit from by working with Organized Labor."