Fake body discovered as part of funeral union asbestos abatement protest

BY Oren Yaniv
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, March 5th 2010, 9:15 AM
A ghoulish union protest in lower Manhattan has gone from bad to corpse.

Some local residents were already upset that a coffin was being used as a prop to rally against a nonunion asbestos abatement firm at 176 Broadway in lower Manhattan. Then they noticed a macabre addition: a fake body inside.

"I'm disgusted by it," said a woman who lives in the building and gave her name as Cathy. "The mannequin is taking it way too far."

She said children were already freaked out by the coffin, which has been sitting there for over a month.

A union organizer said Thursday that the "body," wearing a hardhat and gas mask, had been in the box all along, but was revealed only Wednesday after the weather improved.

Asbestos, Lead & Hazardous Waste Laborers' Local 78 is using the display to protest the use of Landmark Consultants, a contractor they accuse of disregarding workers. Landmark's owner could not be reached for comment.

Gary Epstein, 50, a UPS worker, liked the idea, comparing the shock tactic to anti-smoking campaigns.

"Asbestos kills people and they should remove it the right way," he said. "It makes you think."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/03/05/2010-03-05_stiff_opposition_to_union_protest.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0hJX5WPr1

Local 78 places casket on Broadway in protest of asbestos abatement by non-union firm

BY Celeste Katz
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Sunday, February 14th 2010, 4:00 AM
It's a union protest so creepy that residents are having trouble resting in peace.

Workers rallying against the use of a non-union firm for asbestos abatement put a shiny brown coffin outside of 176 Broadway. It's been sitting there every day since Feb. 2.

"I called the police," said Milda De Voe, 41, a mother of two who has lived in the lower Manhattan building since 2001. "My 7-year-old son wants to know why they think we're going to die."

Maintenance worker Eric Soto says the coffin is so disturbing, he'd much rather have the union bring out the "giant rat" balloon often used at protests.

David Vila of Asbestos, Lead & Hazardous Waste Laborers' Local 78 said the coffin should remind onlookers of the workers' need to feed their families.

The union has three caskets that it has used in protests in New York, New Jersey and Long Island over the last few years, said Eli Kent, Local 78's director of organization.

Kent said the casket makes an important statement: that non-union workers often lack the benefits and protections that organized labor gets. It's also about safety.

"The point of this is to draw attention to the fact that asbestos kills," Kent said. "If some people get uncomfortable, [but] we can save people's lives, we think that's worth it."

Andrew Gasparro of the Landmark Consultants Corp., the Brooklyn firm doing the asbestos abatement, said the union criticisms are weak.

"It's extremely misleading," Gasparro said. "We're providing good service [and] good employment. We are working [with the Department of Environmental Protection], and to have [a] coffin outside is very distasteful."

ckatz@nydailynews.com



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/02/14/2010-02-14_casket_gives_new_life_to_labor_gripe.html?print=1&page=all#ixzz0hJvP2iwh

Local 78 Members at Picket Line PICTURES

Local 78 Members at the Picket Line against LandMark Consultants at 62 Imlay Street, Brooklyn.

Local 78 Members at Picket Line VIDEO

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Shop Stewards: Como resolver un Problema en las areas de Trabajo

Como un buen Shop Steward resuelve los problema en las areas de trabajo:

1. Hablar con el foreman para que resuelva la situacion.

2. Si el foreman no lo hace entonces hablar con el Supervisor.

3. Darle un periodo de tiempo para que resuelva el problema.

4. Si el Supervisor no arregla entoces proceder a llamar al delegado (Business Agent) de su area.

Delegados (Business Agents) por Area que hablan Español:

Brooklyn, Queens & Bronx: Fabio Morales 646-510-8718

Manhattan & Staten Island: Manuel Ortiz 917-418-0334

Long Island: Mario Chamorr0 917-578-3951

Norte de New Jersey: Abraham Hernandez 347-852-5069

Sur de New Jersey: Gary Salva 201-681-6175

Cuando llames un Delegado y no contesta debes de dejarle un mensaje y luego enviarle un texto sobre la urgencia de que te llame lo antes posible.

De no comunicarte con algun delegado llamar a la oficina de la local 212-227-4803 y explicar la urgencia de comunicarte con algun delegado.

Si el problema ocurreen horas de la noche y no te comunicas con el delegado de tu zona debes de llamar a cualquiera de los demas delegados hasta dar con uno. Recuerda SIEMPRE dejar mensaje.

Esto es todo por ahora queridos Shop Stewards. Seguiremos publicando breves instrucciones para shop stewards mas adelante.

Gracias,

LiUNA Local 78.

PS. Favor dejar comentarios que nos ayuden a ser mejores Shop Stewards...

Join Secretary of Labor nominee Hilda Solis and support the Employee Free Choice Act

The announcement of Representative Hilda Solis as President-elect Obama's Secretary of Labor is great news for America's workers. Solis comes from a union family and has never forgotten her roots in her public service career. Her appointment is a win for the prospects of the Employee Free Choice Act and the economic future for the people of this country who get up and go to work every day.

On every issue that's important to working people, Hilda Solis has stood up for an America where everyone's hard work is valued and rewarded. Congresswoman Solis does not just vote on behalf of workers, she is their unwavering and tireless voice.

Stand with our next Secretary of Labor and support the Employee Free Choice Act.

Source: http://freechoice.seiu.org/page/s/solisfreechoice?gclid=CIjS3M3C85cCFQtZHgodjE5HDQ

Obama Names Picks for Transportation Labor Posts

CHICAGO - Swiftly completing his Cabinet, President-elect Barack Obama named four officials to oversee transportation, labor, trade and small business policy in his new administration Friday but warned that economic recovery may take years.
Little more than a month before he takes office, Obama noted his speed in putting his full economic team in place, saying he had done so at an earlier point than any president in history because of the magnitude of the troubles the country faces.

"Daunting as the challenges we are inheriting may be, I am convinced that our team and the American people are prepared to meet them," he said. "It will take longer than anybody of us would like — years, not months.
It will get worse before it gets better." "But it will get better if we are willing to act boldly and swiftly," Obama said — and he promised to do just that.

At his fifth news conference in as many days, Obama announced his selections of Republican Rep. Ray LaHood of Illinois for transportation secretary, California Rep. Hilda Solis for labor secretary, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk for U.S. trade representative and venture capitalist Karen Mills to head the Small Business Administration. AP

Bad News!!!

You control what you'll see on election day.

Humberto Yeppes

Mass for Humberto Yeppes, 59, of West New York, will be today at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine Church, Union City. He died Wednesday at Palisades Medical Center, North Bergen.

Born in Pereira, Colombia, he moved to the United States in 1965 and lived in New York City before moving to West New York 30 years ago.

Yeppes worked as an asbestos remover.

He was the first Vice-President and founding member of Local 78 LIUNA, New York City.

Surviving are his wife, Yolanda Soto; three sons, Mauricio Alejandro, Hector Batres and Stanley Batres; two daughters, Helen Batres and Karla Batres; two brothers, Fabio and Octavio; five sisters, Mery, Nelly, Nuvia, Myriam, and Nancy; and five grandchildren.

Humberto Yeppes Video: