September 28, 2016
By Joe Maniscalco
New York, NY – On this week’s episode of LaborPress’ “Blue Collar Buzz” airing Sunday night at 9 p.m. on AM970 The Answer, we’re talking about how garbage truck drivers and low-income communities throughout New York City are teaming up to fight back against commercial waste industry pollution. We’ve also got an exclusive interview with Henry Garrido, head of NYC’s largest municipal employees union, who warns potential Trump voters that the former reality TV star turned Republican darling has a long history of “failed responsibilities to working people.”
According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a modest 10 percent reduction in current pollution levels could prevent 300 premature deaths annually. Nevertheless, there are street corners in places like the South Bronx that see a pollution-spewing commercial garbage truck pass every 24 seconds.
On this week’s episode of LaborPress’ “Blue Collar Buzz” we’re talking with Priya Mulgaonkar of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, author of a new report detailing the amount of pollution pouring out of those commercial garbage truck exhaust pipes, as well as a concerned Teamster truck driver who took direct part in the sobering study.
As bad as the air is outside, it’s actually seven-times worse for garbage truck drivers like Steve Falk, who tells “Blue Collar Buzz” that after years behind the wheel, he now worries about the potentially lethal impact on his good health.
Says Falk “I’m worried about the longterm effects on my health. I want to go to my daughter’s wedding and see my grandkids.”
The longterm effects on the nation’s health could be disastrous for years to come under a Trump presidency — and on this week’s episode of LaborPress’ “Blue Collar Buzz”, DC 37 Executive Director and recent recipient of City Limits’ Civic Champion Award, Henry Garrido, helps lay out the case against Donald Trump.
“I think it’s very clear that Trump has left a trail of failed responsibilities to working people Garrido says. “Neglecting to pay contractors, neglecting to pay union workers living wages…why would we think that a man that has built his entire history on neglecting the rights of working people is, all of a sudden, going to become our champion?”
If that wasn’t enough, this week’s episode of “Blue Collar Buzz” has even more Trump talk in a wild open segment that sees Host Bill Hohlfeld playing devil’s advocate and the show’s producer explaining why he thinks Bernie Sanders was Batman, Hillary Clinton is the Penguin and Donald Trump is the Joker.
In a world without Batman — who would you rather have to battle? This week, “Blue Collar Buzz” tackles that question.
And finally, in light of recent explosions in New York and New Jersey, we’re also talking with Steve Osman, CEO of Metropolitan Pacific Properties, about what it takes to keep New York City properties around the UN safe.
LaborPress’ “Blue Collar Buzz” airs every Sunday night on AM970 The Answer from 9 to 10 p.m. This week’s episode, as well as every other episode of LaborPress’ “Blue Collar Buzz” is also available on demand at www.am970theanswer.com.
