News, Notes & Observations Gathered While Covering The Western New York Labor Community Over The Past Several Days:

WNYLaborToday.com would like to welcome aboard our newest Union Supporter/Subscriber: United Steelworkers of America (USWA) District 4.  USWA District 4 is headed by Bill Pienta - who was appointed District Director by the International Executive Board back in May 2004, and elected by acclamation to a full term as District Director in 2005.  Pienta is a son of a Steelworker who followed his father to work in the former Allegheny Ludlum steel mill in Dunkirk in 1966, where he worked as an electrician.  According to information posted on the USWA Web Site, he became a Union Activist and was elected to the grievance committee in 1970.  Pienta then went on to serve as president of USWA Local 2693 before joining the USWA staff as an organizer in 1990.  He was the first staff representative in District 4 to graduate from the AFL-CIO's Organizing Institute.  In 1993, Pienta was assigned to negotiate and service collective bargaining agreements in both the public and private sector and was responsible for re-establishing the New York State Legislative Committee, where he served as chairman.  Pienta was promoted to Buffalo Sub-District Director in 1997, and served as the Organizing and First Contract coordinator for the District.  In 2002, Pienta was named Assistant Director of USWA District 4, and served in that capacity until his appointment as Director in 2004.  He holds elected positions in both the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation, and is also a Director of the New York State Workforce Development Institute.  The USWA has been in the forefront of the Green Jobs Movement and WNYLaborToday.com has reported several times on the Union's diligent efforts here in Western New York to work to create new jobs in solar and Green Technology.  WNYLaborToday.com appreciates the support it is receiving from USWA District 4, which adds to our growing roster of supporting Labor Unions and Organizations across our region.  On that note, WNYLaborToday.com would like to thank Director Pienta and District 4's many members for their support of your Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper.  We look forward to making our readers aware of what the USWA and its members are involved in to move the Western New York economy forward in the months to come, as well as what the Union and its membership is doing to improve the communities where we all live, work and raise our families.

STORY UPDATE: As of late last week, Buffalo AFL-CIO Michael Hoffert tells WNYLaborToday.com that he has still has not heard back from Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, despite making three individual telephone requests to his office over a three-month time period to request a meeting be scheduled between the mayor and Organized Labor over Federal Stimulus Dollars being awarded to the city.  Despite what can only be described as an outright snub to Organized Labor, Hoffert tells WNYLaborToday.com he will attend Mayor Brown's State of the City Address on Friday, February 19th.  "That's how I'll have to apparently get my information on what's going on.  It will be interesting to see if (Mayor Brown) reaches out to (Organized Labor) during his address.  We'll find out," Hoffert said.  In the interim, there's no doubt representatives of Organized Labor will be further updated on the mayor's lack of urgency in returning the three telephone calls made to his office by the president of the 80,000-member Buffalo AFL-CIO Council over a three-month period.  On Tuesday, the Buffalo CLC holds its monthly executive board and delegates meeting - where it will surely be brought up and discussed.  In addition, the Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation will hold a major meeting of area Union Leaders in less than two weeks to discuss the tack Organized Labor will collectively take in the upcoming 2010 elections.  As reported by WNYLaborToday.com over the past several weeks, there's a general and growing level of concern and frustration with the way Labor Unions are being treated and seemingly taken for granted by not only the Democratic Party, but Labor-endorsed and -supported elected officials and candidates.  It will be extremely interesting to learn what avenue Organized Labor will opt for in the many upcoming local and state elections this year, as well as in 2011.  As previously stated, the wind has begun to blow in a different direction and it would appear those who seek the endorsement and support of Labor Unions and their members will be held to a higher level of scrutiny beginning sometime in the not too distant future.

And speaking of Hoffert, you'd think the local web sites that cover Western New York politics would ask - if they don't already know - for the correct spelling of an individual's name whom they are interviewing.  One local site recently interviewed the Buffalo AFL-CIO Council president for a story it published and spelled Hoffert's name with only one "f."  However, after several days of that story appearing on the site, the missing "f" magically reappeared in his name.  Taking into consideration the site is a mouthpiece for a local political party that counts Labor as a supporter - it is an embarrassment.  So guys, we suggest you take a moment to first ask the person you're interviewing for the correct spelling of their name.  It's one of the cardinal rules of journalism.  Otherwise, you'll wind up having egg on your face.  And by the way, it's not a good idea to hit up someone you're conducting an interview with for potential advertising dollars.  It appears you're using the interview as a springboard for something that shouldn't be mixed in when offering an individual opportunity for coverage on your site.  It's in bad taste.

Last week, the Buffalo Common Council overwhelmingly passed a city resolution in support of keeping the Waterfront Health Care Center open.  Common Council Member David Rivera, who sponsored the resolution, subsequently called on the New York State Department of Health, state-elected representatives and Kaleida Health to find a creative solution to keep the Waterfront open.  1199 SEIU (Service Employees International Union) is playing a major role in the fight to keep the Waterfront Health Care Center, as well as several other assisted-living facilities, open in the City of Buffalo.  Hopefully a solution/compromise must be reached in this matter, which impacts hundreds of local individuals and their families.  Otherwise, there will be no where for their loved ones to be housed with the City of Buffalo.  If you have a few moments, WNYLaborToday.com encourages our readers who live within the city to call your state representatives and let them know how important it is to keep these facilities open.  Your help and involvement is imperative in turning this situation around.

WNYLaborToday.com, meanwhile, is also happy to report that our Regional, On-Line Labor Newspaper has surpassed the 200 fan mark on the social networking web site, facebook.  WNYLaborToday.com has made it a habit to use facebook as our own "Labor News wire service," which allows us to make our "fans" aware of the latest news and breaking headlines.  If you're on facebook, we ask you sign up as a "fan" on WNYLaborToday.com's facebook page.  On the flip side, WNYLaborToday.com also offers breaking Labor News headlines on the social network, twitter.  You can sign up for both on our Front Page, just above our bank of video news cubes.   If you're interested in getting our weekly e-news/e-mail blast, you can do so by signing up in the area that also appears on our Front Page - just below the date and current temperature.  Our weekly e-news/e-mail blast is proving to be extremely successful.  The feedback on our e-news/e-mails has been extremely good, including some thanking WNYLaborToday.com for doing so.  Everyone tends to be busy these days and our e-news/e-mails serves as a reminder that inform our readers what they've missed out on over the past several days if they've not visited our site.  On another front, WNYLaborToday.com asks Western New York's Labor Unions to consider what Teamster Local 375 in Buffalo is currently doing: forwarding our weekly e-news/e-mails to their individual Union Members through your existing member e-mail lists.  Gauging the response, WNYLaborToday.com is also receiving a great amount of reader feedback, as well as offerings of guest columns and Letters to the Editor - which is great.  With that said, WNYLaborToday.com wants to know what's on your mind when it comes to Organized Labor, the Western New York Labor Community and the Labor Movement in general.  Let us know through our Contact Form Submission that's located on the tool bar in the upper fold of our Front Page.  WNYLaborToday.com looks forward to hearing from you.