The St. Tammany Fire Protection District (La.) board voted 3-1 Mar. 9 to fire Slidell Firefighters Ass’n boss Terrel Noland for illegal political activities by a civil servant. The District found Noland guilty of influence-peddling in the 1998 Slidell City Council elections. Louisiana law allows union officials who also are under civil service to have a right to speak and take certain actions on behalf of the union. But Noland allegedly offered several council candidates union financial and political support in exchange for agreeing to appoint someone new to one or both of the two board slots appointed by the council. Noland denied making any quid pro quo offers. [Times-Picayune 3/10/99]
Massachusetts AFL-CIO Pulls Plug on Buffalo’s Propaganda Radio
The radio program, “Prospering in America,” a union-funded, far-left radio program lost its funding Mar. 5, ending a 6-year run on WHTT-FM in Buffalo. The union show was forced to close because its major sponsor, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, canceled funds necessary to pay for airtime. The unions had to pay fees of $300 to $1,500 to get radio stations to air the one-hour propaganda program. At its height, the weekly show was only carried in twelve cities and at the end it was only in five. Thomas Hopkins, ex-boss of Int’l Union of Operating Engineers Local 17 in West Seneca, N.Y., launched the program in 1993 “because [he] was sick of hearing Rush Limbaugh every time [he] turned on the radio.” Note that Rush Limbaugh has over 600 stations carrying his three-hour daily show and in his tenth year. [Buffalo News 3/6/99]
AFSCME Opposes Wisconsin’s Anti-Felon Proposal
Wisconsin’s legislature is considering a law that would bar convicted felons from jobs that require any contact with adults and children considered to be in danger of victimization from abuse, neglect or other criminal acts. The Am. Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Wisconsin is opposed to the rule. “Our position is that barring people from working in health care arbitrarily takes away due process… This rule has alarmed a lot of people who could potentially lose their jobs, and that includes almost 15 percent of our work force,” said AFSCME’s Mark Howard. But, State Rep. Peggy Krusick (D-Milwaukee) gave the common sense response in favor of the proposed rule: “Nobody wants felons caring for the state’s most vulnerable citizens.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 2/26/99]