State Workers Union Slams Governor Nixon’s Budget Proposals

The response from the Communication Workers of America to Nixon's State of the State speech:

CWA members were flabbergasted and outraged to learn that Governor Nixon proposed additional massive cuts to Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens in his state of the state address and initial budget proposal.

Among the wrongheaded recommendations he announced were plans to lay off nearly 500 direct service employees in Department of Social Services and Department of Health and Senior Services. In addition to adding hundreds to Missouri’s already historically high numbers of unemployed, these cuts will:

• make accessing and applying for Medicaid, Foodstamps, child support and child care services vastly more difficult for thousands of financially struggling Missouri families
• reduce the number of state employees assigned to protecting children, senior citizens and people with disabilities from abuse and neglect
• force families with troubled youth to travel hundreds of miles to access state mandated treatment services.

Governor Nixon is refusing to advocate for any measures that would significantly increase state revenue, even measures with support from both parties such as taxing internet retail sales or increasing the tobacco tax. Governor Nixon seems to have forgotten his promises to restore social services during his election campaign, but the hundreds of union members who devoted thousands of hours to his first election campaign have not.

By issuing this budget recommendation, Governor Nixon has decided that the entire burden for Missouri’s economic crisis should be carried by abused children, people with disabilities, and unemployed and low-wage workers. He has decided that the interests of out of state corporations and the tobacco industry are more important than the needs of the citizens of his state who are struggling the most during this economic crisis.

The 6,500 public workers represented by CWA will not forget this outrageous decision and will fight this cruel and shortsighted budget at every possible level.

Communications Workers of America, Local 6355, AFL-CIO

You can say Nixon's in a tough spot, but at the very least this calls into question his claim that he will "fight every day for every job."

In Surprise Upset, Pinnacle Entertainment Overtakes Rex Sinquefield for Scrooge of the Year!

Heading into yesterday's Scrooge of the Year Party hosted by St. Louis Jobs with Justice, it looked like Rex Sinquefield would run away with the title after his successful effort to threaten St. Louis and Kansas City governments with the elimination of the earnings tax. Sinquefield had over 400 votes, and only one of the other candidates had even reached 100 votes. However, Unite Here stepped up to the plate for their candidate, Pinnacle Entertainment, who muttered a giant "Bah Humbug!" while stomping on the rights of workers who had voted to unionize earlier in the year.

The St. Louis Tea Party Leadership (hmmm, wonder who might have nominated them) finished a distant third.

Results from the JwJ website:

Pinnacle Entertainment beat out Rex with a whopping 2544 votes!
Rex Sinquefield was the first loser with a solid 1910 votes!
St. Louis Tea Party Leadership finished in 3rd place with 505 votes!
Senator Roy Blunt elected 4th place with 370 votes!
Peabody Coal finished 5th with 279 votes
Write-in Candidate Riverview Garden’s District Superintendent Clive Coleman finished in 5th place with a respectable 143 votes.

It was a great event with lots of local celebrity organizers and activists in attendance. If you didn't make it this year, you should definitely put it on your calendar for next year and remember to VOTE!

Check out some pictures of the party below the jump: