Experts say unions hobbling Rhode Islanda s economy

That Rhode Island is a hotbed of union activity is not exactly a secret. In 1824, the nation's first strike by female factory workers was organized in Pawtucket.

[disappointed taxpayer]

So, the Providence Firefighters Union will not take the high road for the good of the ENTIRE state. Yes, you do a fine service...BUT....you are VERY highly compensated for that. The rest of us lowly taxpayers who are NOT in bloated unions, must pay the price for this. I think it is about time the "elite" in RI (union members, politicians, crooked CEO's) start paying their full share to benefit the entire workforce...not just themselves. This state could be a wonderful place to work and to live, but these greedy unions are killing us! Do you really think new business wants to come into this state when they will be targeted by unions and their tactics? I doubt it. Union members: when you see all these people unemployed in RI, having no health coverage, barely getting by...do you at all have a guilty conscience? You should. Shame on you all

[grd0099]

disappointed taxpayer wrote:

So, the Providence Firefighters Union will not take the high road for the good of the ENTIRE state. Yes, you do a fine service...BUT....you are VERY highly compensated for that. The rest of us lowly taxpayers who are NOT in bloated unions, must pay the price for this. I think it is about time the "elite" in RI (union members, politicians, crooked CEO's) start paying their full share to benefit the entire workforce...not just themselves. This state could be a wonderful place to work and to live, but these greedy unions are killing us! Do you really think new business wants to come into this state when they will be targeted by unions and their tactics? I doubt it. Union members: when you see all these people unemployed in RI, having no health coverage, barely getting by...do you at all have a guilty conscience? You should. Shame on you all

the thing is you can walk into any er in this state anyway and get free helth care espcialy if your illegal.

and when the bill comes to you you call the hosptial and the will send you a aid form and it gets aproved so i dont see what the issue is

[grd0099]

are they the same experts who said eveything was great in the state a year ago to and said ri was going to have a great future

[mr_nemo]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi...

Anniversary of a dark day

Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Sunday is the 75th anniversary of a day blood ran in the streets of San Francisco - a day of wild rioting on the waterfront that left two men dead on a sidewalk, shot down by police.

Thursday, July 5, 1934 - a day striking labor unions called "Bloody Thursday" - was a turning point in the history of working people on the West Coast.

Though the thought of strikes, riots, tear gas and armed troops on the San Francisco waterfront seems like something out of the dim, dead past, the 1934 strike had an impact that is still felt to this day.

"I think it is still relevant to the Bay Area," said Kevin Starr, the pre-eminent historian of California who wrote about the strike in "Endangered Dreams," a history of California in the Great Depression.

The employers were determined to break the strike; they brought in strikebreakers, and on July 5, with the help of City Hall and the police, they decided to open the port.

The employers, backed by an army of cops, tried to move cargo by trucks and freight trains. The strikers and their supporters tried to stop them. The cops used clubs and vomiting gas; the strikers threw rocks and bricks.

"Don't think of this as a riot," The Chronicle said, "it was a hundred riots." At one point the strikers were forced back, up Rincon Hill, and fought a skirmish they called "The Battle of Rincon Hill." The site is now occupied by the One Rincon Tower.

In the afternoon, police fired on strikers at the corner of Steuart and Mission streets. Howard Sperry, a striking sailor, and Nick Bordoise, an unemployed fry cook, were shot and killed.