Local Columnists

$1Trillion For Infrastructure MIA in Trump Budget

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Collapsed I−40 Bridge, near Webbers Falls, Sequoyah County, Okla., in 2002. By Doug Cunningham

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) says Trump’s budget is a “disaster for public investment.”

Despite promising to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure rebuilding to create jobs, Trump’s budget actually cuts the Department of Transportation budget by 13 percent. And there’s no infrastructure jobs investment in the budget. EPI says Trump is taking money from the already small non-defense discretionary spending federal budget to pay for military and border security increases. Actor’s Equity Says Abolishing National Endowment For The Arts Will Cost Jobs
Actor’s Equity Association President Kate Shindle says eliminating the National Endowment For The Arts would hurt the restaurant, hospitality, retail and transportation economies in theater districts nationwide.

Local Columnists

Global Unemployment Growing as Global Unions Conference Meets

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By Doug Cunningham

Global unemployment is expected to grow substantially this year. The Education International global union is trying to do something about it. “More than 60 participants from over 40 countries are meeting in Brussels this week to figure out how to grow employment in the education sector,” said C. Marie Ainsborough of Radio Labour. The conference has been organized by Education International. EI is the global union federation which represents teachers and other education workers at the world level.

Local Columnists

Breaking Bad Patterns

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A business acquaintance said to me, “I just knew today was going to be another one of those days.” Our conversation continued with this person communicating everything that went wrong at work the day before and the meeting they were totally unprepared for as a result. They had hoped for a less stressful and frustrating day today, but when they spilled an entire cup of coffee, in the car, on the way to work they knew the negative cycle was continuing. This new day was just going to be an extension of yesterday. And, from the way they talked, I’m pretty sure the anxiety, aggravation and negativity I heard in their voice did nothing to alter their thinking or help prepare them for their meeting. With days like this (I am pretty sure we all experience something like it occasionally) we need to find ways to open up and break out of this pattern of thinking. I can’t tell you the best way for you to do it, but I can tell you the good news, we all can do it.

Guest Column

Haverhill Groups Must Band Together and Promote the City

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The citizens of Haverhill, city agencies and volunteer activists have been coming together to support the many cultural, educational, culinary and historical characteristics that make Haverhill the great city that we all love so much. As we all know, Haverhill has a lot to offer residents, visitors and potential home owners. As we continue to improve and increase the diversity of attractions, I think this is a great time to turn our attention to promoting ourselves in the Merrimack Valley, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the other nearby states within New England. But it will take a level of cooperation and consolidation of resources to deliver this message to other communities. For the most part large retail malls promote themselves as a collection of retailers under one banner, whether that be The Mall at Rockingham Park, The Burlington Mall, or the recently opened MarketStreet Lynnfield.

Local Columnists

Create Millions of Jobs or Cut Healthcare for Millions of People?

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By Doug Cunningham

If you were sitting in Congress, would you act first to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure plan that could create millions of jobs or focus instead on taking healthcare away from millions of people? Republicans are choosing to take away healthcare instead of creating the infrastructure jobs. Families USA says the House GOP repeal of the Affordable Care Act would replace it by slashing coverage and rationing care for millions of people. Republicans want to reduce Obamacare subsidies that have helped millions afford healthcare. The GOP also wants to end the Medicaid expansion that brought healthcare coverage to millions more people least able to afford it.

Local Columnists

March on Mississippi: Nissan Workers Demand Union Rights

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Actor Danny Glover. (Photograph by Rogi Lensing, Creative Commons.)

By Doug Cunningham

Canton, Miss., Nissan workers, supported by the United Auto Workers, the NAACP, Sen. Bernie Sanders and activist actor Danny Glover, held a spirited March on Mississippi over the weekend. Their message was worker rights are human rights. Nissan workers want a union and they want to be able to vote for a union free of fear and intimidation from Nissan. “Brothers and sisters, friends all, it is your moment, your time in history!

Guest Column

Don’t Forget Common Courtesies When Interacting with Others

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I’m beginning to think people are slowly forgetting how to interact with others. Of course, there are those times around family and friends, or in workplace situations, where interacting with those around us is either pleasurable or necessary. But, outside of those two situations, I think we have gotten so self-reliant and self-absorbed that we have lost our way in other social situations. In this day and age, with our focus riveted to cell phone texting and tweets, phone calls in the middle of places that when they happen make a person look like they are talking to themselves, or our focus on the myriad of tasks we feel compelled to complete, we are tuning out the people whom we come in contact with in public places. And this has been going on for quite some time now.

Local Columnists

EPA Under Attack: Cuts ‘Make it Impossible to Protect the Environment’

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By Doug Cunningham

About 25 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget is being cut in the Trump budget. Approximately 3,000 EPA jobs will be cut—going from 15,000 down to 12,000. John O’Grady is president of AFGE’s National Council of EPA Locals, the largest union representing EPA workers. “Morale is in the basement, possibly lower. We’re already at a point where we don’t have enough staff to do everything that Congress has tasked us with.