01/03/09 10:43 - ID#47272

Buffalo Rising Sinks To New Low

I seriously cannot believe this article on being "Buffalo-ish" which they describe as similar to being Jewish. Its offensive for Buffalonians, its offensive to Jews, it makes no sense. It is pretty much just pure crap. Maybe there just aren't enough good things to say about Buffalo anymore that they need more filler crap. To make it worse the article is written by an x-buffalonian living in Chicago, who left Buffalo because of the weather? What an idiot.

Here is a link to the article called "ON BEING BUFFALO-ISH" By John Wingspread Howell

metalpeter writes at 12:40:57 01/04/09 - Comment #44025: I admit I liked the article. I think that a lot of what he says is true, out side of Buffalo we do get no respect we are known for our wings and snow (even though other places get more snow then we do). Not sure about the comparison to Jews, it makes sense if he is a Jew, it makes even more sense since to me they seem like a Minority here. But the next time you watch a sports event notice that most Buffalo fans in another city are most often in groups. That thing with the sports teams I have seen happen before. Yes the article does seem like he wrote it like a poem but maybe that is his writting style I was going to leave a response there but it won't let me log in.

james writes at 12:07:39 01/04/09 - Comment #44016: I doubt Mr. Howell even experienced friendly company in this town. A walking douche bag is going to be poorly treated in Denver, Congo, or Buffalo.

ejtower writes at 11:36:05 01/03/09 - Comment #44015: Did anyone else catch this gem? "This is the first in a 3-part installment by John Wingspread Howell" What pisses me off is that this is exactly how a number of people that I know perceive the situation here. I don't mean the Jewish comparison which is just insanity. (like being Jewish in Tehran! Really? You think so?)

What I mean is this strange working class elitism reinforced by sports fanaticism. These articles and conversations that make Buffalo out to be little more than a frozen shit hole where you can only get drunk and watch sports exposes the fundamental disconnect between the people who are working to create something, and those who wish to gain some level of "street cred" for having grown up in a rust belt city.

Personally I think the unfriendly experiences this ex-pat writer has in other cities is probably rooted in his air of superiority. He probably tells his friends how much cooler than them he is for having spent time here.

james writes at 11:20:49 01/03/09 - Comment #44014: That is fucking ridiculous. I am still trying to figure out just what he meant by that and the sloppy article doesn't actually make a point so it is difficult.

reading that article is like being illiterate in a walk in freezer.

mrmike writes at 10:52:24 01/03/09 - Comment #44013: They are awful proud of the new web design, too bad most of the content is of suspect quality.

Permalink: Buffalo_Rising_Sinks_To_New_Low.html
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Category: buffalorising

01/14/08 07:05 - ID#42882

Unions and Buffalo

I am going to say it - I hate how Buffalo Rising has become so sensationalist. Maybe I just hate Queenseyes posts - which is just about all of them.

It is so contradictory so often and a lot of times I just can't find any common ground with his writing and my beliefs in the City of Buffalo and what makes it great. Remember when Buffalo Rising was more of a website with lots of authors. To me it just seems like his personal blog now and that he is desperate for sensationalist articles to feed his advertising agenda.

Today, he was talking about how BSC Group's Bashara Issa

workers have voted to unionize when working on the Statler tower. He says?

Would you pay $30 to $40 ((e:paul) note ->I think originally originally this said $50 but it got edited because all the comments refer to a $50 amount) or more to an employee who pushes a broom or dumps bricks into a dumpster? What if you were made to do so? That is the labor issue that BSC Group's Bashar Issa is facing at this moment....This past Saturday he told me that Local 210 had finally succeeded in luring his unskilled workers to vote union. ... when asked about the Buffalo City Tower? Well, he doesn't think that he can pull it off if his workers are unionized. For Bashar, that is a sad thought, but at the same time he knows that there are plenty of other opportunities around the world that will keep him (and his money) busy. ... The BSC Group is employing many laborers who have not had steady jobs in construction before. Bashar feels that he has been fare all along and is visibly upset that it has come down to this.

Originally this blog claimed that BSC Group's Bashar Issa was going to lose out as his "unskilled" labor unionized and started costing $50/hour for broom sweepers. That is totally ridiculous.

First of all, did Bashar Issa not know that Buffalo is a generally unionized city for construction? And secondly, who pays even unionized broom sweepers even $40/hour. I am sure if they are being paid that much, they are doing way more than just pushing brooms and maybe something very dangerous. As a highly educated, highly trained NYS union worker I do not make even close to that. In fact almost no one in my department makes even close to that in terms of NYS union work. I guess it is a different union but I would find it hard to believ a broom sweeper is making $50 for just broom sweeping.

I am also so sick of people putting down unions. Ya, if he built in in Arizona, he could use non-unionized Mexicans but then people would complain about all the jobs being lost. Some unions did/do abuse power but if you honestly look at it, don't almost all corporations abuse/misuse power and why should the people at the bottom of the ladder be denied things like living wages and healthcare so the people at the very top and squeeze out the extra pennies for their yachts and $10 million dollar vacation homes.

Maybe there would not even need to be unions if living wages and health care were considered in corporations instead of massive wages for the highest in the totem polls.

All in all I really don't care about the big stupid glass tower that might never be built. I am so sick of all the rich people trying to convert Buffalo into something that is going to be glamorous only for the cream of the crop. I guess most people probably think that sounds hypocritical considering my own financial status - but honestly, I would rather pay skilled union workers to build big glass towers hovering over my downtown, than unskilled, underpaid workers who will have much less pride in there work if they feel ripped off.

Okay I got to go pick up (e:terry) from his union job and pick up some stuff at my union job.

I think the best comment on their site was this one. I found it when looking back at their comments.

thisoldcrackhouse - Today, 21:15

"I have a degree, an MBA, a PHD and I don't make that much money" Are you kidding me? Do you think that just because you survived the "rigors" of higher education that you somehow deserve to be compensated better than some guy who busts his ass day in,day out, especially in this climate? Was the poor fellow who lost his life working on the Webb building being overcompensated? Please, if you have never done this type of work before, refrain from making comments about how much someone should be paid. I have a four year degree, spent several years in the banking industry, but for the last 18 years have been employed as a skilled union craftsman. I can tell you firsthand that sitting in a cozy cubicle or classroom does not make any of you experts on what "menial" labor is worth.

james writes at 11:21:32 01/15/08 - Comment #30412: BR's unyielding optimism could make a turkey dinner out of a turd. I don't know what crowd they write for, but it certainly isn't a pragmatically minded one.

vincent writes at 11:48:17 01/14/08 - Comment #30394: Just what we need another "Dick" boat for a guy trying to compensate for something...

I've worked for both Union shops and Non-Union and by far Union workplaces are 10x better to work in. You may not get the thing you want in the beginning, but at least you know where you stand; Since everything is in the contract things are very cut and dry. Working for a place where the employers can do what ever the F they want you just have to learn to play politics, gossip, lie and be as manipulative as you can be.

paul writes at 09:58:43 01/14/08 - Comment #30386: Okay this just says it all. It makes me want to puke that this guy is going to complain about living wages and then lives this privieleged, over the top lifestyle and worse yet that Buffalo Rising flaunts it like it is the way of the new Buffalo Rising :::link::: Who the fuck really believes these people care about Buffalo and aren't just using it as a playground.

jason writes at 08:25:51 01/14/08 - Comment #30373: Nice post, Paul. I have a million thoughts on this but I have to shave it all down to just a few:

Unions are on the decline in part because of lost faith. They have a fiduciary responsibility, always to the workers, sometimes to the public, and when that is breached or tainted it is an almost unforgivable sin. It is very easy to become as corrupt, wasteful or ineffective as any state government.

I bet most people want to see workers be paid a good enough wage to live, save, invest....and Unions are the best tool we have to work to this end. Even non-union workers benefit from the history and actions of the labor movement.

I think they have to be squeaky clean, cleaner than the corporation, more open than the corporation, and highly democratic. They have to prove that they care about the health of the corporation as well. On the worker end, people have to be very engaged. The Union's actions have to be 110% honorable, and no less. When faith is restored, why would they not see a resurgence and a huge boost in influence?

metalpeter writes at 07:27:05 01/14/08 - Comment #30368: Unions are great, sometimes. The problem is that greed is a factor. It is a factor in the high paid people who get there bonuses first then pay people what ever is left. The same is true with unions also. Yeah they are good to get people a decent wage but often they go overboard. Unions are what caused the delphi problem $22 an hour or $16 an hour to start at chevy is a lot of money. Yes it is good to have all Health care. But sooner or later it gets out of hand (some kinds). Unions are like inventions they are not good or evil it is all about how they are used. In this case it sounds like they got in the way of progress. Then you have unions that have crime ties. If you want a good example of that go to Niagara Falls and look back at all these great things that where supposed to come to NF and never got built. As a side note I can remember I think at CAnisius there where crew members who where union and some non union and the nonunion people where paid better and had better benefits so it shows that a union isn]t that simple.

Permalink: Unions_and_Buffalo.html
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