NYC Teamster SanMen ready for blizzard

Mayor Bloomberg and Sanitation Commissioner Doherty brief media on snow preparations.

Whoa! A ginormous blizzard is headed toward New York City along the same path Superstorm Sandy followed. Our Teamster brothers and sisters, New York's Strongest, are ready for it, according to the Department of Sanitation New York City:

...In preparation for a snow event, DSNY personnel begin initial equipment readiness, including loading of our 365 salt spreaders, attaching plows when necessary, preparing tire chains and notifying supplementary personnel as needed.

You can actually track their progress here.

You can bet our brothers and sisters who work for public works departments in Greater New York and New Jersey are busy. The same goes for Teamsters who work at the region's airports and along the rail lines.

Be safe, everybody.

Sandy relief: Huge props for our Local 831 sanitation brothers

Teamster Local 831 sanitation workers are finally getting recognized for their hard work putting New York back on its feet after Hurricane Sandy hit.

"New York's Strongest" are the subject of news reports, Facebook posts and "thank you" tweets as they haul away mountains of soggy debris.

The New York Times, for example, profiled Ed Shevlin, a New York City sanitation worker is cleaning up the hard-hit Rockaways:

“If these piles could talk, they’d be screaming,” said Mr. Shevlin, whose own apartment on Beach 103rd Street stayed dry, if without power as of Thursday. His parents’ apartment, and his brother’s house, were both flooded and severely damaged. 

“I like to think I’m a strong guy, but this devastation has really gotten to me,” said Mr. Shevlin, who wears his green Department of Sanitation uniform proudly. 

“I’ll be wearing this uniform every day for months,” he said. “We were the first boots on the ground and we’ll be the last to leave.”

We told you yesterday about the Staten Island Advance's story, "Sanitation workers arrive like heroes in Staten Island's devastation zone." But we didn't share with you a comment signed by "rockinmom":

 I have been out there on the streets and witnessed the hard work that these guys have been doing. I was out delivering food the other day, and not one of these guys even wanted a bottle of water. I heard over and over, "give it to someone who needs it". I say thank you to the sanitation workers who have been working so hard. Instead of knocking each other down, why can't we just say thanks for a job well done!

Here are some tweets giving them their just due:

NYC Aviation @NYC Aviation: Hats off to the DSNY, a rarely credited team that has been cleaning up Sandy and now fighting a snowstorm as well. Thank you NY's Strongest! 

Rich Muniz ‏@richrico21: Just looked out my window! Wow!! I did NOT take this seriously. God Bless the DSNY! Guna be another long week for those guys. 

FiDi New Yorker ‏@FiDiNYer: Awesome job @NYCSanitation! Hard storm clean-up in the Rockaways & SI and now snow?!?!? Keep up the good work & drink @redbull #DSNY

The Chasing Sanitation Facebook page may be the best place to follow the cleanup. We especially like this post from SanMan Joseph Mosca:

I honestly believe that the clean up efforts of this hurricane have given many men and women on this job a new found sense of pride. Where many had seen themselves only as trash collectors and snow removers. With this disaster it really put into perspective that we are not just garbage men and women but the we are Sanitation Workers. We do everything we can to help keep our communities clean and disease free. We will work tireless hours, go with little to no sleep, not see our families, and push our minds and bodies past what normal people have to, just so we can get the job done. Seeing so many coworkers step up and just want to help has given myself as well as many others a breathe of fresh air. It shows that we still have people who care more for others than they do for themselves. I applaud my brother and sister Sanitation Workers. STAY STRONG!!!!!!!!

Couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Today's Teamster News 11.11.12

Noda seizes on TPP as way to steer forthcoming election  Th Asahi Shimbun   ...Charles Lake, the chairman of the U.S.-Japan Business Council ... said it should happen soon. "With U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election, there is the possibility the U.S. administration will accelerate the TPP negotiations next year," said Lake, who is also chairman of Aflac Japan. "It would be desirable if Japan was participating at that time..."
If the Dems got a backbone (opinion)   ataxingmatter   ...Given that the "fiscal cliff" deal doesn't require cuts to social welfare programs, it might be advisable to let the fiscal cliff occur.  Let the spending cuts go through and let the Bush tax cuts expire.  The result will be that we will have taken a much needed first stab at cutting back on the exorbitant military spending that provides rentier profits to the military-industrial complex...
The Gerrymander Triumph  Global Economic Intersection   ...The US house elections have very undemocratic election results in many states, largely in favour of Republicans. In Ohio 52% of the total vote cast gained Republicans 80% of the seats. In Pennsylvania 49% of the vote gave Republicans 72% of the seats...
Sanitation Workers Move Mountains for the City's Recovery  WNYC News   ...While most New Yorkers were trapped at home without mass transit in the aftermath of Sandy, an army of 6,000 sanitation workers had to go right back to their jobs - even though many sustained great losses themselves...
Janitors slated for Christmas layoff swamp City Hall  People's World   ...Hundreds of O'Hare Airport workers slated to lose their jobs just before Christmas marched through City Hall today, chanting and waving banners, flags and signs. The janitors and window washers, holding their brooms, mops and squeegees up high, shouted "Shame Emanuel"...
Spackenkill, Rhinebeck bus talks at critical stage  Poughkeepsie Journal   ...If Teamsters Union Local 445 is unable to come to terms with contractor Durham School Services, the employees are prepared to strike...

Bonus story: David Koch Is the Worst Tipper at 740 Park  Vanity Fair   ...We interviewed a guy who used to work as a doorman at 740 Park. I asked him to rank the tippers at the building, and he said the absolute worst was David Koch...