NYC Teamsters begin campaign to create good commercial waste jobs

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFYEMlNubQ1vSrBk5Gn5mZD5HwCUqJmRX0_tgkkGczvIdypJkOCIswadKSW6TAsa0o0BbhaFeeWrwURbE0EUu1zA8Hoqt2hVpgvIuIqVAKddrBUsWRfZFvvmzbra7s6boUMCYGmmjFqbH/s1600/miranda2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKFYEMlNubQ1vSrBk5Gn5mZD5HwCUqJmRX0_tgkkGczvIdypJkOCIswadKSW6TAsa0o0BbhaFeeWrwURbE0EUu1zA8Hoqt2hVpgvIuIqVAKddrBUsWRfZFvvmzbra7s6boUMCYGmmjFqbH/s400/miranda2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda with Sean Campbell,<br />president of Teamsters Local 813.</td></tr></tbody></table>(Updates to add photo)<br /><br />New York City Teamsters and their allies have high hopes for a campaign launched today to increase good jobs, recycling and justice in the commercial waste industry. New Yorkers are paying attention.<br /><br />This morning the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-recycle-compost-90-waste-report-article-1.1473457" rel="nofollow">New York Daily News</a> reported the Alliance for a Greater New York (ALIGN)  is recommending the city adopt a franchise system involving competitive bidding, a reduced number of companies and higher environmental and labor standards.<br /><br />What the newspaper missed was the creation of a strong new alliance -- Transform Don't Trash NYC -- to make that happen. The campaign to tackle the problems of New York City's commercial waste industry involves the Teamsters, <a href="http://www.alignny.org/" rel="nofollow">ALIGN</a>, environmental justice and community advocacy groups.<br /><br />A month away from Election Day, mayoral and city council candidates would do well to listen to their message.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.teamstersnewyorkcity.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Joint Council 16</a> President George Miranda said at a City Hall news conference today:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Today is the day we make New York City a better place to live and work.</blockquote>Miranda told the press wages are falling in New York's commercial waste industry, with new hires in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island earning just below $20,000 a year:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">This industry has become a "Wild West." Unsafe and sometimes illegal operators are driving a race to the bottom in wages and health and safety.</blockquote>The news conference followed the release of a study showing the city could recycle and compost more than 90 percent of commercial waste, but the current rate is much lower than that.<br /><br />"This stinks," wrote Daily News reporters Daniel Beekman and Stephen Rex Brown: <br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">...of the 3.2 million tons of commercial waste generated each year, 2 million tons are buried in landfills or burned in incinerators. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The Alliance for a Greater New York, which wrote the report released Wednesday, blames a dysfunctional commercial waste industry that reeks of inefficiency.</blockquote><a href="http://nyc-eja.org/?page_id=80" rel="nofollow">Eddie Bautista</a>, executive director of the <a href="http://nyc-eja.org/" rel="nofollow">New York City Environmental Justice Alliance</a>, said  it's time to stop burying low-income communities of color under mountains of commercial waste.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">The time has come for New York City to stop burying communities -- as well as burying potential recycling jobs. ... the next mayor can really jumpstart a commercial recycling program that both increases long-neglected recycling work opportunities, while continuing to decrease our carbon footprint.</blockquote>Teamsters Joint Council 16 includes <a href="http://www.dsnyfamily.com/general-information/labor/teamster-local831/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters Local 831</a>, which represents New York City sanitation workers.<br /><br />

environmental justice JC16 New York City waste NYC Teamsters begin campaign to create good commercial waste jobs

Teamsters Joint Council 16 President George Miranda with Sean Campbell, president of Teamsters Local 813. (Updates to add photo) New York Ci...

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9/14/2001 ... President George W. Bush at Ground Zero

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/x7OCgMPX2mE" width="560"></iframe> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />"USA! USA! USA!" Spontaneous chants roared from the crowd of rescue workers on September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as President George W. Bush stood at Ground Zero and, with bullhorn in hand, called out the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OCgMPX2mE">words that were heard around the world</a>:<br /><blockquote><b>President Bush:</b> Thank you all. I want you all to know -- it can't go any louder (referring to the bullhorn) -- I want you all to know that America today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens<br /><br /><b>Rescue Worker:</b> I can't hear you!<br /><br /><b>President Bush:</b> I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!<br /><br /><b>Rescue Workers:</b> (Roar from the crowd) USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! <br /><br /><b>President Bush:</b> The nation sends its love and compassion ...<br /><br /><b>Rescue Worker:</b> God bless America!<br /><br /><b>President Bush:</b> ... to everybody who is here. Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for making the nation proud, and may God bless America.<br /><br /><b>Rescue Workers:</b> (Chanting) USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!</blockquote>We were in a different mindset on this day 12 years ago. This is a reminder that President Bush's remarks at a time when our nation was in deep mourning were comforting not only to those in New York City but also to those of us in the Shenandoah Valley.<br /><br />May we never forget 9/11 ... and may God bless America.

9/11/2001 George W. Bush Ground Zero New York City Terrorism 9/14/2001 ... President George W. Bush at Ground Zero

"USA! USA! USA!" Spontaneous chants roared from the crowd of rescue workers on September 14, 2001, three days after the terrorist...

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10:28 a.m. ... 9/11/2001 ... World Trade Center South Tower collapses

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7qwQXL_lqEjO7HUw4-fJctlssfIYa0F3yGhA6H-aNu1CniFWXgJUyM6yj6ns04GUmpB_QCQQ98EOLMJdXLHQUczGIIQQCvDZqbKS54HOeaxJz6PzLDtz8MunXbG_yOAOcP_M6Vn_smHt/s1600/9-11+1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7qwQXL_lqEjO7HUw4-fJctlssfIYa0F3yGhA6H-aNu1CniFWXgJUyM6yj6ns04GUmpB_QCQQ98EOLMJdXLHQUczGIIQQCvDZqbKS54HOeaxJz6PzLDtz8MunXbG_yOAOcP_M6Vn_smHt/s640/9-11+1.jpeg" width="532" /></a></div><br />10:28 am ... South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11.<br /><br /><i>9/11/01 ... may we never forget.</i>

9/11/2001 New York City Terrorism Twin Towers World Trade Center 10:28 a.m. ... 9/11/2001 ... World Trade Center South Tower collapses

10:28 am ... South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11. 9/11/01 ... may we never forget.

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10:28 a.m. ... 9/11 ... World Trade Center North Tower collapses

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwO-VqNb933_cDwxayLppQPM7g-HLPw4ZAVcpFph6InHvYtiCZUO8OvrLfBlLo3p0OX4x931xwKz2qdBmAzb3FyothlV_4uF_6TVjAlSM5JONdwiqU0PqXT-CxQL6If9dq9dwQMglX0TR/s1600/9-11+1.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515644994512712850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwO-VqNb933_cDwxayLppQPM7g-HLPw4ZAVcpFph6InHvYtiCZUO8OvrLfBlLo3p0OX4x931xwKz2qdBmAzb3FyothlV_4uF_6TVjAlSM5JONdwiqU0PqXT-CxQL6If9dq9dwQMglX0TR/s640/9-11+1.jpeg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="533" /></a>At 10:28 a.m. the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed after burning for 102 minutes.<br /><br />9/11 ... may we never forget.

9/11/2001 New York City Terrorism World Trade Center 10:28 a.m. ... 9/11 ... World Trade Center North Tower collapses

At 10:28 a.m. the north tower of the World Trade Center collapsed after burning for 102 minutes. 9/11 ... may we never forget.

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