Author Archives: Joe Doc

Staples Rings NASDAQ Bell, Protesters ‘Ruin Their Day’

From the American Postal Workers Union

A security officer asks O’Neill not to ruin Staples’ day.

Stop Staples activists “ruined Staples’ day” on March 15, protesting in front of the NASDAQ building in Times Square, while Staples executives gathered to ring the stock market’s opening bell.

Holding Stop Staples posters, John Dennie, Dennis O’Neil, Delphine McRae, Pat Parrish, Carol Thomas and Kevin Walsh gathered outside the glass front of the building at 9:15, just before the ceremonial bell-ringing.

Protesters could see in, and the Staples and NASDAQ executives could see out. After the executives saw the protesters, “their cell phone cameras came out,” O’Neil said.

A high-ranking security officer soon came outside and approached O’Neil.

“You know what he said to me?” O’Neil recounted with a laugh. “He said, ‘Please don’t do this. This is their day. You are ruining their day.’”

“I told him, ‘Staples is ruining the day of postal workers, customers and their own employees around the country. We will do everything we can to ruin Staples’ day!’”

Throughout the exchange, the protesters held their Don’t Buy Staples posters high.

Just before the actual bell-ringing, NASDAQ executives lowered shades, blocking the view of their highly-touted ceremony.

“It was way too late,” O’Neil said.  “We were really successful hitting this, even if we didn’t see the bell rung.”

Stop Staples activists in New York City and around the country have been protesting outside Staples stores on a regular basis and vow to keep the heat on the office-supply chain until they get out of the mail business.

“Staples stock has been plummeting in recent months, at least in part as a result of the boycott,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein pointed out. And Fortune magazine said the company is “desperate for new avenues of growth as the odds of its planned $5.5 billion acquisition of Office Depot  grow slimmer by the day.”

Source – http://www.apwu.org/news/web-news-article/staples-rings-nasdaq-bell-protesters-%E2%80%98ruin-their-day%E2%80%99

Phila. schools launch effort to fill 800 teaching positions

By Martha Woodall

– To try to make sure there’s a teacher in every classroom in every Philadelphia public school in the fall, the School District has launched an ambitious new early-hiring strategy.

The goal is to ensure that principals have their teaching staffs chosen by June 30.

“We are looking to hire at least 800 teachers,” Kendra Lee-Rosati, the district’s acting chief talent officer, said Wednesday.

To fill the posts, the district wants to have 5,000 applications so that it can select from the best candidates.

“We want really good people to apply,” said district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

“Great teachers and staff are critical to our focus on building a more equitable system of schools across our city,” Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said in a statement. “We are committed to hiring educators and support staff who believe deeply in the potential of all students.”

Gallard said the district wants to prevent the problems that occurred last fall, when 190 teaching positions were vacant in October. Many remain unfilled.

Union leaders welcomed the district’s effort but questioned whether the goals could be accomplished.

“I believe it’s a wonderful theory, but I don’t believe that it’s something that will be achieved,” said Rob McGrogan, head of the principals’ union.

“I will say it’s a laudable goal, but it is going to be very difficult,” agreed Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

He noted that city teachers have not had a raise in four years; their contract expired in August of 2013. And teachers often have to buy classroom supplies.

“It becomes a real issue with recruitment and retention when you have other districts competing for teachers,” Jordan said.

Megan MacDonald, the district’s manager of institutional and school-based recruitment, said the district is stressing the opportunities to help change students’ lives.

The goal, she said, was “helping teachers see past the obstacles and [consider] the role they can play.”

The district has received 1,000 applications since the 2016 recruitment drive began in January.

Lee-Rosati said the district is especially interested in candidates for hard-to-staff areas, such as secondary math and science; special education; and bilingual education.

The starting salary for teachers with no experience is $45,360.

Hite and others will speak at an information session for prospective candidates at 4 p.m. Tuesday at district headquarters, 440 N. Broad St.

Applicants are encouraged to meet an early deadline of March 25. Qualified candidates will be eligible for site selection, which begins April 18, when principals and school teams begin choosing staff.

The district also intends to hire nearly 60 nurses and 50 counselors to fulfill a pledge Hite made last week to have a full-time nurse and a counselor in every district school next fall – provided that Gov. Wolf’s proposed 2016-17 budget is approved.

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20160317_Philly_schools_launch_early-hiring_effort_to_fill_800_teaching_positions_by_June_30.html

Christie misses state trooper’s funeral to ‘interview’ Trump; Police union head says Christie’s “decision making is predicated on selfish political opportunism.”

By Maddie Hanna

Gov. Christie took on a new role while campaigning Monday with Donald Trump: interviewing his former GOP rival at an event in North Carolina.

He didn’t throw any curveballs, however.

“What you’ve done all around the world, in terms of building great businesses, I think folks are confident that if you become president, you’ll be able to do that same thing for our country,” Christie said, posing his first question to Trump during the event, streamed online from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory. “Tell them how you’re going to do it.”

“We built an amazing company, very little debt, tremendous cash flow,” Trump said, calling the nation’s infrastructure “a disaster. We have to build it on time, on budget.”

Another question from Christie: “How would you bring the same kind of principles you’ve brought to building great properties, managing a great company, to our relationships with trade around the world?” (Trump: “We’re bad traders. We have the worst people representing us.”)

Christie returned to a more traditional role – warm-up act – at a second Trump event Monday in Tampa, Fla., where he described his background as U.S. attorney, putting “all kinds of bad guys in jail. We put terrorists in jail, we put corrupt politicians in jail. . . . We did what needed to be done.”

“I’m convinced that’s exactly the kind of attorney general Donald Trump is going to appoint when he’s president of the United States,” said Christie, who was introduced at the Tampa event by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. (“He and I are together on a stage,” Palin said of Christie, remarking on Trump’s “ability to unify.”)

Later in the event, Trump said, “Chris Christie, what a great friend.”

Christie, who endorsed Trump after dropping out of the presidential race last month, has said that he did not “bargain” with the billionaire businessman for a position in his administration.

The governor interviewed Trump in North Carolina while a funeral was being held Monday in Burlington County for Sean Cullen, a state trooper who died last week after he was struck by a car while responding to an accident. The governor’s office said Sunday that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno would attend.

“We did not expect someone who has consistently shown disdain for law enforcement to pay his respects to the Cullen and State Police family,” said Chris Burgos, the president of the State Troopers Fraternal Association, which has fought the Christie administration in court over state pension funding.

Christie’s “decision-making is predicated on selfish political opportunism,” Burgos said.

Christie had emphasized his support for law enforcement during his presidential campaign. His office did not respond to a request for comment Monday on the governor’s decision to campaign with Trump instead of attending the funeral.

As Trump spoke in North Carolina, Christie periodically nodded and chimed in with “yeps.”

At one point, he addressed Trump: “You’re seen as one of the greatest capitalists in American history.”

Trump, meanwhile, offered a reminder of Christie’s fate in the presidential race. “They say I’ve won every debate,” Trump said. “I think if I didn’t, we wouldn’t be here today. I would have been like the other people: out.”

The two men, seated in armchairs on stage, paused several times as protesters interrupted.

“All right,” Christie said after the first such interruption, which was followed by chants from the crowd of “Build that wall!” and “USA!”

Trump, who canceled an event Friday night in Chicago because of security concerns, said: “You know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think like, basically, none. Other than, I guess, maybe somebody got hit once.”

“The people who are supporters of Donald Trump want to see America be great again. That’s what it is,” said Trump, who last month said he’d “like to punch” a protester at a Las Vegas event.

On NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Trump said he had “instructed my people” to look into paying legal fees for a man who punched a protester at a campaign rally last week in Fayetteville, N.C.

In Hickory on Monday, Trump said: “There is no violence; these are lovefests.”

At the start of the event, Christie told the crowd that “we’re looking forward to being all over the country today.”

Source – http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20160315_Christie_chats_up_Trump_in_N_C_.html

Over 100 Million Americans are Waiting for a Full Supreme Court Bench

By Michele L. Jawando and Billy Corriher

Within an hour of the news of Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing on February 13, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Senate should not consider any U.S. Supreme Court nominee until the next president is inaugurated in 2017. If Senate Republicans follow through with their threats of obstruction, it would damage the Court and its ability to answers the country’s most pressing constitutional questions. But it would be even more damaging for the millions of Americans whose lives and livelihoods sit in legal limbo, dependent on an eight-member Supreme Court that may be deadlocked and unable to set precedent.

More than 100 million Americans are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide critical issues that affect their lives. Around 18 million women live in states that are shutting down abortion clinics. More than 6 million Americans have loved ones who are unauthorized immigrants fearing deportation. Around 1.5 million students of color are graduating high school unsure if colleges will be allowed to diversify through affirmative action. More than 7 million public employees who rely on strong unions could have their economic security threatened. Thousands of Americans work for religious employers that are arguing that their right to religious freedom outweighs their employees’ right to access health care. The Court’s redistricting cases could affect the entire country.

Source – http://app.mx3.americanprogressaction.org/e/es.aspx?s=785&e=954150&elqTrackId=29938bde7ef4498484f92f21a4f69a2b&elq=e058086063a247368f8e46bd2cfa059d&elqaid=29450&elqat=1