Thousands Rally In NYC Protesting Budget Cuts That Threaten Public Jobs And Services

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/13709

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on June 16, 2010 - 2:44pm
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By Doug Cunningham

Public worker unions rallied Wednesday at City Hall to protest city budget & job cuts. Labor leader and activist Ed Ott told WBAI’s Building Bridges that this is an attack on public workers and their unions.

: “They’re askin’ them to give up money, they’re askin’ them to give up jobs. In the meantime we’ve got some of the wealthiest corporations in this city who are refusin’ to ante up anything They don’t wanna to pay a nickel more in taxes. They want the workin’ people to carry this. Workin’ people basically in this city right now feel like they’re being robbed.”

Steve Cassidy, President of New York City’s Uniformed Firefighters Association says all unions in the city need to fight these budget cuts that threaten to close fire stations and cut critical public services.

: “If the garbage starts to pile up, if the trains don’t run on time, if there’s no one there to teach your children, if you dial 911 and nobody comes, you know what you have? You have a desert, you don’t have New York City! It’s time for the citizens of New York to say what we have now is what we deserve, it’s what we want and we’re not gonna give it up!”