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November 5, 2007

Union leaders angrily demand that GOP chief resign

State Republican Chairman Giovanni Cicione’s description of labor unions as the “last vestige of institutional racism” has — no surprise — led a coalition of AFL-CIO affiliated unions known as Working Rhode Island to urge Governor Carcieri to demand Cicione’s resignation.

Carcieri’s response? “The idea that the governor is going to allow union leaders to dictate who should head the state Republican Party is ridiculous. Beyond that, this letter doesn’t warrant a comment,” said spokesman Jeff Neal.

The background: After his comment was first reported in The Journal, Cicione repeated — and expanded on — his views about unions and, more specifically, what he described as an “anti-Italian” bias by early union leaders, in a recent interview on WJAR’s 10 News Conference.

Asked by reporter Bill Rappleye if he had indeed called unions “the last vestige of institutional racism,” Cicione said: “I did.”

“What does that mean?” he was asked. Cicione’s answer: “If you look back to the formation of the unions, it was in large part — if you look at Samuel Gompers and people like that that were the heads of those union movements — they were publicly out there saying the reason we need to have unions is to keep the Italians from taking our jobs. That was my grandparents they were talking about back when this started …”

(Gompers, of course, was the first president of the American Federation of Labor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.)

“Nothing’s changed now,” Cicione began when Rappleye interrupted with a “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.”

“Look at the numbers, Bill. Look at the numbers,” Cicione continued. “Go to the Cranston Fire Department. How many women are in that Fire Department? How many people of color are in that Fire Department?”

“You’ve got Italians in the unions,” Rappleye interjected. But Cicione, still talking, said: “None … None because of the work rules, the union work rules prevent a natural progression of new faces of people getting new opportunities. It’s a real problem.”

On Oct. 30, the AFL-CIO’s top brass — Frank Montanaro and George Nee — and Robert Walsh, executive director of National Education Association Rhode Island, wrote Carcieri a letter that began: “We write on behalf of the Rhode Island labor community to express our grave concern over a series of comments made by Giovanni Cicione regarding unionized workers, labor unions, and union leaders since being named as chair of the Republican Party this past March. … It is clear that Mr. Cicione serves at your behest.”

Among their arguments: “While we disagree with you on the subject of state employee layoffs, you spoke of your decision as a painful one,” the trio wrote Carcieri. “In contrast, Mr. Cicione made the insensitive and hurtful statement that your proposed elimination of 1,000 jobs of state employees was ‘a good start.’”

Even “you must have cringed, as we did, when Mr. Cicione referred to those who advocate for the neediest among us as ‘poverty pimps,’” they wrote.

And finally, “Mr. Cicione’s remarks equating unions with racism were outrageous ...We ask that you immediately demand Mr. Cicione’s resignation as Republican Party chairman as he clearly no longer shares your vision.”

From Cicione came this initial response: “Clearly you understand that I was finishing my sentence when I answered my own rhetorical question about how many women or minorities serve in Cranston — ‘None.’ I was not responding to Rappleye’s absurd question about whether there are any Italians in unions.”

With respect to his comments on the early labor movement, he acknowledged having “misattributed the quote about Italians (“Dagos,” in the vernacular) to Gompers — it was [Socialist leader Eugene] Debs.” His source for the information: a quotation attributed to Debs in an op-ed piece written by a Hillsdale College professor that appeared in the Wall Street Journal in September.)

But Cicione did not back away from what he called “the lock-the-door-behind-us … anti-immigrant agenda” of unions which, he insisted, persists today. As for resigning as GOP chairman, he had no such intention, but will wear it as “a badge of honor” that union bosses wanted him gone.

For the record, Cranston Fire Chief Richard Delgado acknowledges his department has no women and has not had a black firefighter since the 1960s, but he said that has nothing to do with union rules. “We can’t get” applicants, he said.

-- By Katherine Gregg, Steve Peoples, Daniel Barbarisi and John E. Mulligan
Journal staff writers

Posted by Pam Cotter at 9:54 AM | Permalink

Comments

OK, The unions are ticked at the RI GOP leader for making racism accusations. Doesn't Mr.Cicione know that that is Bill Lynch & the democratic party's modus operandi? Only the democrats and unions are allowed to call someone a racist. After all it is impossible for a minority, democrat or union leader to be racist or bigoted. Only successful, white businessmen and Republicans can be racist and bigots. Oh, about the lack of black and/or women firefighters in Cranston. I think the fire chief means there are no QUALIFIED applicants. C'mon this is Rogue Island. Someone must owe someone a favor. Maybe one of the crossing guards would like to get a real job. How about getting the poverty pimps to educate and train the people they claim to represent to apply for these jobs instead of training them how to walk and hold a sign. This is getting sickening.

Posted by: Chris at November 5, 2007 8:29 PM

Tommy Policastro,Sam and Angelo Azzinaro,Johny Capobianco,Frank Montanaro,Romeo Calderone, and even Ed McElroy (nee:Angelone)would get a laugh at this one--all they thought they had to stare down was the old Yankee establishment and its know-nothing hand maidens on Fountain Street. Little did they relaize they were fighting the ingrained anti-Italian bias of the labor movement.It would e funny having a right wing nitwit acting as spokesman for the Republicans in RI--if it was not so sad, and sick.

Posted by: bill tammelleo at November 6, 2007 9:37 AM

Montanaro and the rest of you UNION leaders...should all find a deep hole....and jump into it...You're the bottom feeders....you're lower than POND SCUM....and should be disgraced for what you have done to this state....I again ask how you can live with yourselves knowing that the MAJORITY of the public want you all gone....They should send the lot of you to Iraq and send the honest, good people fighting for this country home... Where THEY belong....

Posted by: Jim Calcione at November 6, 2007 1:15 PM

Unions are indeed racist. Ask yourself why every union chief rushes to support poor Latino janitors who decide to organize, yet these VERY SAME union chiefs play dumb as hundreds of high paying construction, electrical and plumbing UNION JOBS downtown have gone to white, out-of-town union workers instead of the thousands of unemployed and underemployed minorities right here in Providence who have been historically shut out by the unions. The RIGOP nut is right.

Posted by: Marta Palacios at November 7, 2007 1:54 AM

What a joke. Next we'll be seeing headlines, "Democrat leaders angrily demand that GOP chief resign".
What this state needs are a few totally new political parties without covert agendas. How about these: Bachelor Party (boyz only), Tupperware Party (girlz only), Limbo Party (for those old enough to remember it), Ecstasy Party (for those barely old enough to vote), Salsa Party (for the Latino constituency). Tell 'em what they wanna hear!

Posted by: Penny Pasta at November 7, 2007 8:50 AM

November 5, 2007

Union leaders angrily demand that GOP chief resign

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