Comments (0) Tonight, City Council passed the “Resolution Restoring Good Jobs at the Hartford Courant,” on the consent calendar with only Councilperson Wooden abstaining.
Before voting, several members of the City Council explained their motives. Continue reading 'City Council Calls on Courant to Rehire Cleaners'»
Eight office cleaners at the Hartford Courant lost their jobs in December.
There is no hope for recourse for many who suffer job loss. This has not been the case in Hartford, where the community has rallied around the janitors whose pay was deemed too costly at the same company that provided $42 million in bonuses for others at the Tribune.
On January 9, 2012, residents spoke out before a City Council meeting, urging officials to take some kind of action on this matter. Last Saturday, the Hartford Organizing Group held a “comfort food feast” to raise funds for the janitors. They raised nearly $1400, which will be presented to the cleaners today at the “Project the Truth” march and rally slated for 4:30 this afternoon. The protest will begin in front of the Old State House and conclude at the corner of State Street and Columbus Boulevard.
At the next meeting of the City Council, there will be discussion of the following resolution:
During the last meeting, there was talk of the City possibly advertising its job openings in local media sources that are not owned by the Tribune.
UPDATE: edited (20 Jan 2012) to show expanded version of the resolution
Although City Council took its first official action of 2012 last week, Monday evening was its first regular (read: not accompanied by ceremony) meeting.
The public comment session showed two prevailing issues on residents’ and stakeholders’ minds: housing and employment. Continue reading 'On Residents’ Minds'»
Thought the new year moved civilization forward, toward more compassion, mindfulness, and understanding? Headlines from this week demand we rethink how those in Connecticut view ourselves.
First, we have two examples of blaming a murder victim for his death. The Republican American headline reads:
In the rehashed version of the story published by the Courant, the title remained equally distasteful:
screenshots taken because headlines change
Words matter.
Headlines are first impressions and frame the story. The message here is not that the person who brutally murdered another is to blame, but that the victim’s alleged sexual advance triggered this. The headlines announce that a perceived or real advance is the cause, not someone’s homophobia.
Then, when we wonder what kind of climate would permit such crime and thoughtless use of language to describe it, we gain some answers by reading about compassion in sheep’s clothing, Continue reading 'Welcome to 1912 Connecticut'»
Following news that the Hartford Courant did not renew a contract with a unionized cleaning company, resulting in several jobs lost just before the holidays, it was announced this week that its parent company, the Tribune, managed to scrape together money to purchase publishing rights to Hartford Magazine.
Since spare change is no longer an issue, will we hear that the Courant will be rehiring those janitors, whose lost jobs saved the Courant $100,000?
“We been there all this time and they kicked us right out the door,” said Eddie Williams, a 20-year employee of Capitol Cleaners who has spent eighteen of those years working inside of the Hartford Courant building.
Williams is one of the janitors whose last day of work will be this Friday, due to the lost contract.
Razmik Hovannis and Anna Hit — also cleaning staff at the Courant and members of SEIU 32BJ — looked grim about their futures. Hovannis has worked ten years in the building and has been employed with Capitol Cleaners for 20 years; Hit has been with them for nine.
Although not ideal, the next move has been to try to secure their jobs at the building by applying for work with Pressroom Cleaners, the new cleaning contractor. Wojciech Pirog, a union delegate and representative for members employed by Capitol Cleaners, says the janitors have applied for work with with the new company, but have so far heard nothing. Continue reading 'Mourning Job Loss'»
Photo courtesy of Monika Leon
While most Connecticutians were navigating the crowded grocery stores, topping off their gas-guzzlers, or filling their bathtubs with water early on that Saturday morning in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, others set out for a bicycle education class arranged specifically for members of the media. Given that I typically walk or bike to events that I cover when wearing my media hat, I thought it appropriate to attend.
Real Art Ways hosted the event, which was coordinated and taught by Bike Walk Connecticut instructors who received certification from the League of American Bicyclists. Coffee and bagels made the dreary morning more manageable as we settled in for a video that demonstrated street cycling techniques. This was followed by a Powerpoint presentation mainly concerned with “taking the lane,” something that new road cyclists tend to not know they can do, not understand the best way to do so, or are completely terrified of trying. The main point of this lesson: bicyclists should behave like motorists in terms of which lanes to use. Making a left turn? Get in the left turn lane.
For me, a lot of this was review, so I asked questions about more complicated maneuvers. I envisioned how I might run errands in the West Farms sprawl region and asked what apparently amounts to survival techniques. Continue reading 'Schooled on the Street'»
On Sunday, September 25th CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer will be speaking at the University of Hartford. The event is free and open to the public, but interested parties should call (860) 768-4228 to reserve tickets. Blitzer will deliver his lecture in Lincoln Theater at 7:30 pm.
On Tuesday, Connecticut residents were preoccupied with the earthquake, which did little damage here. On Twitter, people sounded frantic about the possibility of aftershocks. This concern was rarely for/by those near the epicenter, where some property damage occurred. For perspective, a Richmond news site had no stories about the earthquake “above the fold” that evening, while every mainstream news outlet in Connecticut had it posted as the top story.
As Hurricane Irene became a formidable threat, again, the news jumped on it, making it a top story. Announcements, such as the one that Malloy declared a “state of emergency” are rarely accompanied with information about what this actually means. All people see is the word “emergency” and get their emotions stirred further. When it is declared, it means a disaster is believed to be imminent, or, it has already occurred; but, the intention is to secure funds and temporary powers to assist with the situation. Remember when a State of Emergency was declared last winter after all that snow fall? Nobody was out rioting in the streets, but removing all the snow cost a lot of money. The declaration was to help defray the cost.
Here is an explanation of the Declaration of Emergency, from the Governor’s website:
For those constantly tuned in for news updates, they are barraged with “breaking stories” — often of marginal importance — lots of red, flashing, scrolling data, dramatic music, and even graphics prepared for the occasion. Something that should be treated with attention and concern is converted into a spectacle of obsession. Continue reading 'Preparation without Panic'»
Art, Frog Hollow, Hartford, downtown, food, fun, media, music, myth busting, nothing to do, photos
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