The unmatched and comprehensive online meeting hall for Nevada workers since 1995
"Our republic and its press will rise or fall together." — Joseph Pulitzer
Je Suis Charlie
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Memo to modern short attention spaniels: This front page is chronological, the site map is categorical.
SITE NAVIGATION TIP: When all else fails, read the instructions
(A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)

Updated 8-10-2022 GMT

Breaking News & Bulletins

 

For Sale: Unsafe at any speed, $40,000
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-10-2022

NLV council rules against putting rent cap proposal on ballot
Next step for Culinary Union Local 226 initiative: Court
Sen. Joe Neal sorely missed on his home turf
Much more at Rentvolution.org
By Jessica Hill / Las Vegas Sun / 8-5-2022

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE?
Be careful what you Make-A-Wish for
Hot August Nights auctioning a death trap for charity
By Faith Evans / Reno Gazette-Journal front page / 8-4-2022

Outlive them all
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-3-2022

How to live forever
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-27-2022

Nevada: Company town, corporate dumpster
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-20-2022

Attorney and former Reno-Sparks NAACP President Jeffrey Blanck has passed away. Memorial service expected in Reno. More as information arrives. May our friend Jeff rest in peace.

The wages of sin
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-13-2022

Poison Annie's Revenge Executed
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-6-2022

The Fall of Camelot
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-29-2022

Fight back against white elephants
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-22-2022

SORE LOSERS: Transit system loses legal actions
Taxpayers hit with hundreds of thousands in costs while rewarding chief executive
"Keolis and their mouthpiece, RTC, spare no expense at losing"— Gary Watson, Teamsters 533 President
U-News June 17, 2022 / Turn on, tune in and tell a friend

Eagles, chickens & Treasongate turkeys
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-15-2022

War in Moderation?

Stealing from starving babies
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-8-2022

Holding guns to our heads
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-1-2022

Veteran Nevada newsman John Howe dies at home at 93

The awful truth for the rudely scrude
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-25-2022

Ripoffs, rake-offs, rape & pillage
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-18-2022 Sparks Tribune/ Updated 5-19-2022 GMT

The abortion solution
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Sparks Tribune 5-11-2022

¡FELIZ CINCO DE MAYO!

Barbwire by Barbano: 4-20, 4-27 & 5-4-2022
Rent control legal under Nevada law
LET THEM EAT MASKS
Sparks-Reno superspreadators give booby bus boss big bucks
+FIREFIGHTERS ENDANGER E.R. PATIENTS
+ Nevada poisoning pigeons (and kids) in parks


War in moderation?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-13-2022

Going out of business in style
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-6-2022

¡Feliz cumpleaños César Chávez! / Happy Birthday, hermano!
Born 3-31-1927 / Nevada's official César Chávez Day
César Chávez, spinmeisters and hatemongers
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-30-2022
Updated 3-31 and 4-1-2022 GMT

Sexy ways to commit societal suicide
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-23-2022

THURSDAY 3-24: Culinary Union rally over unfair IRS tip allocation rates

Workers win, abusive contractor loses. Again.
KEOLIS TRANSIT SIGNS SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON MORE LABOR VIOLATIONS
40 National Labor Relations Board Charges Settled in Teamsters Union Favor
March 17, 2022 / Updated 3-21-2022
The Hat Trick Strikes in pictures

How Renown stole our county hospital
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-16-2022

Oil Ain't All That's Rigged
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-9-2022

Eve of Destruction
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-2-2022
UPDATE: A humane no-death path toward peace with a little help from God. And the plague.

David Toll: Compleatly Nevadian
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-23-2022

Fresh glances at last, best chances
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-16-2022

Prolific Nevada author and publisher David Toll dies at 85
Constructed and launched NevadaLabor.com in 1996


DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN— St. Mary's registered nurses picket hospital Friday, 2-11-2022 1:00 .m PST

Rise of the Homotextuals
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-9-2022

Culinary Union celebrates 30th anniversary of Frontier Hotel strike
Caesars Palace / Las Vegas Strip / Saturday 2-5-2022

Treasure the age of the republic's wane
We carry on with business as usual as we treasure the remaining time in our democracy's decline.
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-2-2022

Up your UPS in Sparks

Demonstrations at UPS Sparks

Teamsters demonstrate in Nevada & California
Interview with Local 533 CEO Debbie Calkins
KRNV TV-4 & KRXI TV-11 / 1-27-2022
KTVN TV-2 video

Teamsters protest potential pay cut for UPS part-timers
Lotsa photos + audio / ThisIsReno.com 1-28-2022

Actions across Northern California and Nevada protest UPS pay cut move
Teamsters Joint Council 7 / 1-27-2022

Teamsters Local 533 will hold a day of action in support of our Teamster membership working at United Parcel Service (UPS). This action will take place at all UPS facilities in Northern California and Northern Nevada, in peaceful support of our members who just recently were forced to take a massive pay reduction while United Parcel Service has been raking in billions of quarterly profits. (See above.)

Times: 8:30am to 10am & 4pm to 6pm
Date: January 27, 2022
Location: UPS Facility – 45 Vista Blvd. Suite 102, Sparks NV 89434

For more information contact
Teamsters 533 CEO Debbie Calkins (775) 348-6060 ext. 105
Business Agent Ross Kinson (775) 348-6060 ext. 106

NevadaLabor.com Teamsters Local 533 War Room
including complete local coverage of 1997 UPS national strike

Labor movement is popular, prominent — and shrinking
Membership has fallen even as support for unions grows
Public sector in great shape. Corporate penetration sux.
By Taylor Johnston / New York Times Business (newspapers don't have labor sections anymore) 1-29-2022
Excellent charts and graphs in the above

Rittenhouse in Reno & rationality in Sparks?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-26-2022

What black people won't say
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-19-2022

Ghosts of Mississippi, Lani Guiniere & U.S. Grant
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-12-2022

STORIES WITH LEGS
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-5-2022

"I wept because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet"


On the smoky streets of Reno

SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER
Left to right: Cindy Davidson, Logan & Michael Lansborough.
Cindy and Michael are union bus operators.


     "My son Logan, in the wheelchair, was born with congenital absence of the tibia. At 17 months, Logan had an operation to amputate his legs. When Keolis first took over the (transit system managment) contract, I was trying to get Logan some new prosthetic legs when the company making the legs informed me that the insurance company informed them that I had been terminated while Keolis continued to collect my premiums. I had never missed work other than doctors appointments." —  Michael Lansborough

FROM BARBWIRE BY BARBANO / SPARKS TRIBUNE / 1-5-2022

HELP DAD AND THE KIDS. Logan Lansborough was the poster child of the Hat Trick Strikes, all three won to national acclaim against Keolis-19 last year by Teamsters Local 533.

Logan is 10 and picketed the mass transit system from his wheelchair last summer.

"He couldn't wait to get back on the line even in the heat," his father Michael, a union coach operator and Sparks resident told me. (Photos at NevadaLabor.com/)

 "My son was born with congenital absence of the tibia. At 17 months, Logan had an operation to amputate his legs," dad Michael said. "When Keolis first took over the (bus system management) contract, I was trying to get Logan some new prosthetic legs when the company making the legs informed me that the insurance company informed them that I had been terminated while Keolis continued to collect my premiums. I had never missed work other than doctors appointments."

Alas, Michael Lansborough had little time to savor his union's victory. He's now on the beach and facing major surgery.

"One of my shop stewards has a serious medical condition and will be missing quite a bit of time from work," fellow bus driver Mike Humes informed me.

"Michael Lansborough is the sole provider for his family. Some of my (union) sisters have started a GoFundMe page to help him and his family during this difficult time. Please share this so we can help our brother out," Brother Humes added.

Here is the link <https://gofund.me/7eae2ed0> Be generous.

If you would like to help by check, make it payable to Michael Lansborough and send to his attention at Teamsters Local 533, 1190 Selmi Drive, Suite 100, Reno NV 89512.

Mr. Lansborough shortly faces major surgery. Join me in donating. Please. AB

[3-23-2002: LATEST UPDATE: Keep them cards & letters — and dollars — coming in.]

Transit bosses illegally cut service to seniors and disabled...

While Logan rallied his dad and his supporters for justice

HOT AUGUST STRIKE 2021 — Logan Lansborough and his fellow trade unionists taking the heat and bringing heat to the streets of Reno in the quest for workplace dignity and fairness. All supporters were invited to pick up a sign and join them any day and into the evening at the downtown bus station, 200 E. 4th Street, Reno 89501.

HAT TRICK: Teamsters mass transit 3-strike wins named 2021 top story
Union "out-messaged" foreign bus management contractor
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com / 12-30-2021

NEVADA STILL A COMPANY TOWN
Gross mining mega-merger turns gold to dross for tribes, workers & environment
The Nevada Independent and High Country News / 1-3-2022

Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
TRUE OR FALSE:
1. Jesus of Nazareth had blue eyes and blonde hair.
2. Buddha is a Christian saint.
3. Christianity existed more than 600 years before Jesus.

If you missed all three, you really need to read on.

Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-29-2021

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005
Remember her kindness and laughter

Happy High Holly Days to all
Merry Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus/Chanukah/Thanksgibleting
Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année !
HAPPY NEW YEAR / Feliz Año Nuevo / Felice Anno Nuovo
Frohe Weihnachten und beste Wuensche fuer 2022

Death Panels for Christmas
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-22-2021

You will remember the Ides of December
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-15-2021

The Cure for What Ails Us, Part IV
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-8-2021

11-30-2021
St. Andrew's Day in Scotland & BarbwireLand
Be well. Raise hell. Stay safe. Ciao

Agreement ends Bus Strike 3
Did St. Andrew intervene?
(The contract agreement was announced on St. Andrew's Day.)
Trending downward even before strikes, driver numbers now down 50%. No return to full service soon.

I want my $10,000.00, dammit!
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-1-2021

Happy Thanksgibleting: Grueling gruel from the cruel
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-24-2021

 

Striking picketers fired on in Reno
4 of 6 hit with rock salt & BB-gun rounds
Bus strikers continue to refuse three-year pay cut

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
GARY WATSON, President
Teamsters Union Local 533
(775) 348-6060 ext. 104
Links, recent archives & 3+ decades of Teamsters/RTC history at NevadaLabor.com

RENO, Nev. USA (November 19, 2021 / 17:24:22 PST) — Six Teamsters Union picketers were fired upon in downtown Reno at about 4:50 p.m. PST (00:50 GMT 11-20). Four were hit while marching in the proximity of the E. 4th Street bus terminal in the hotel/casino district. The shots were fired from a red pickup truck.

"I told my members to call 911 and immediately informed Reno Police Chief Jason Soto and Deputy Chief Tom Robinson," stated Teamsters Local 533 President Gary Watson.

"Even supposedly non-lethal rounds can do serious damage, especially to someone's eyes," Watson said.

Reno Police are on scene right now and the union has been informed that the pickup's rider(s) may be shooting at others in the downtown area.

The union went on strike a third time in four months when the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County's foreign contractor insisted on a non-negotiable below-inflation pay scale which would amount to a three-year pay cut.

BB found on site of picketers assault on November 19

Local 533 has represented Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County transit system employees since 1987. Chartered in 1934, Teamsters Local 533 represents about 2,200 workers in various trades throughout northern Nevada and eastern California, including about 200 RTC/Keolis workers. The three dozen-plus member unions of the Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO voted for strike sanctions before the Hot August Strike. They supported the second work stoppage during "Striketober" and have done so again with Strike 3 now on the streets.

The United Labor Agency of Nevada has helped arrange a strike fund. Please send checks to United Labor Agency of Nevada, 1201 N. Decatur Blvd. Suite 106, Las Vegas, NV 89108; Attn: Teamsters Keolis Strike. OR...

HELP THE STRIKERS. PLEASE DONATE TO THE STRIKE FUND Online

Sign the FIRE KEOLIS petition

RTC Washoe Contact Information — Utilize frequently

The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County is comprised of Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson (R), Washoe County Commissioners Vaughn Hartung (R) and Bob Lucey (R); Reno City Councilmembers Oscar Delgado (D) and Neoma Jardon, (R), board chair. RTC board e-mail <rtcpubliccomments@rtcwashoe.com>, bthomas@rtcwashoe.com (RTC Executive Director Bill Thomas),

HIGHLIGHT, COPY AND PASTE
delgadoo@reno.gov (Reno Councilmember Oscar Delgado-D),
vhartung@washoecounty.us (Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung-R),
jardonn@reno.gov (Reno Councilmember/RTC Chair Neoma Jardon-R),
elawson@cityofsparks.us (Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson-R),
blucey@washoecounty.us (County Commissioner Bob Lucey-R),
bthomas@rtcwashoe.com (RTC Executive Director Bill Thomas),
rtcpubliccomments@rtcwashoe.com (RTC board e-mail),

Teamsters Union 533 Strike War Room

CWA 9413/AFL-CIO
Y11/19 ShotsFired/Strike3/Keolis-19/ibt/Unews/opsn21


-30-

 

Ghosts of Christmas past bite us on the ass
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-17-2021

Help rebuild Nevada's infrastrucure and create Nevada jobs
By Rob Benner / Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada/AFL-CIO/ Reno Gazette-Journal op-ed 11-17-2021


 

FIRE KEOLIS! —Teamsters Union members march on Reno City Hall
(11-10-2021)

Bus system overlords go on strike
Why did RTC chickens cross the road? To avoid voters!
Regular RTC meeting cancelled while system collapses
Bus strikers continue to refuse three-year pay cut and call for executive director's resignation

BREAKING NEWS: Reno inflation hits 7%
Reno is in the Mountain Division and its CPI (cost of living index)
went from 6% in September to 7% in October
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics / 11-10-2021

Gee, now the Teamsters' demand for a 17.4% pay raise for mass transit workers seems quite reasonable compared to the bus system's "last-best offer" (an inflation-eroded pay cut) of 12% for three years or 4% annually. The union has demanded a pay increase of 5.3% to 6.3%. The midpoint is 5.8% per year, or 17.4% over three years, below the 7%/21% current rate which everyone hopes will go down as the economy recovers from the plague.

IS 18 PERCENT ENOUGH? Reno is in the top 10 cities nationally for year-over-year rent increases according to Apartment Guide (KRNV TV-4 10-4-2021). Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment broke $1,600.00 for the first time ever in the second quarter. (RGJ.com 8-16-2021)

 

Strike 3: Washoe transit workers walk off again
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-9 & 11-10-2021


STRIKE 3 hit the streets at Eee-Yo-Leven a.m. Nov. 9
LANDSLIDE—Union members vote 9 to 1 to walk
Third Washoe/Carson bus strike in four months
Foreign contractor offers $1,000 bribes to take pay cuts

HELP THE STRIKERS. PLEASE DONATE TO THE STRIKE FUND

Sign the FIRE KEOLIS TRANSIT petition

Teamsters Union: Third Mass Transit Strike Imminent
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 11-4-2021

SINDICATO: “LA TERCERA HUELGA ES INMINENTE”
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 11-7-2021

Bus system bosses' best offer busted
Lower level casino jobs offer more
Mike Pilcher Guest Commentary / ThisIsReno.com / 11-8-2021

Teamsters Union 533 Strike War Room

 

Pitchforks, torches, mensches, tar & feathers
Moonhowlers on Steroids
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Substantially updated from the Sparks Tribune 11-3-2021

Ripoffs, Riches, Riots, Rhymes and R-ratings
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-27-2021


Eee-yo-leven!
Barbwire wins 11th Nevada Press Association award
6 of 11 gold
Tribune editorial page voted 2020 best

Dennis Myers 2nd Barbwire nominee elected to NPA Hall of Fame

Support Don Dondero and Jake Highton and David Toll next
Send endorsements

The Dean's List

   The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites.

RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006

 

The Lady in the Red Dress
The Barbwire's classic Nevada Day column written in 1983
The compleat history of the Silver State in 500 words
SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
DAILY SPARKS TRIBUNE 1-3-2011

Je Suis Charlie

30+ years of Barbwire Archives thru today

SITE MAP

SITE NAVIGATION TIP: When all else fails, read the instructions
(A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

All the news you never knew you needed to know—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

Navigating the flagship—>Making quick work of NevadaLabor.com

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS DEPT.—> A year or so back, I got my first criticism in more than two decades that this site is a bit confusing to navigate. I take that as a compliment. Confusing people is one of my few talents.
    I thought I had anticipated any such problems years ago by liberally sprinkling links to the front page site map. (These days, am I supposed to say that I sprinkled progressively rather than liberally?)
    The front page of NevadaLabor.com acts as a chronological listing of recent workplace news with the latest at the top. I archive annually to create a continuous permanent record fully accessible via the site map or any garden-variety websearch.
    "We Don't Need No Education" is now approaching its 100th installment and long ago earned its own section inside. Say hi to Don Quixote.
    Current Barbwires plus more than 20 years of columaniacal archives, the Statewide News Roundup and Breaking News/Bull'tins/Almanac are all available via the site map—>as well as the usual general or specific ongoing madness and historical inflammation. (Once something's posted here or to any of my other sites, it's up forever.)
    While the front page is chronological, the Statewide News Roundup is categorical, e.g., construction, hospitality, legislation, health care and many others. Breaking News/Bull'tins/Almanac often publishes original U-News as well as links to items at other sites that are not hot enough for the front page chronology. The NevadaLabor.com search engine acts as a short-cut to everything, depending on what you seek. So simply seek and ye shall find.
    As my old friend Wise John the Lake Havasu Cropduster Pilot often says, "when all else fails, read the instructions." So when all else fails, re-read the above, then go to the nearest site map link and/or "search." The NevadaLabor.com search engine is really amazing. It's also union-signatory and thus quite efficient.
    Thanks for your inputs and support over lo, these many years. Keep up the good work and the good fight.
    Esté bien. Haga infierno. / Be well. Raise hell.

—> Andrew the Barbwire Man

Political Animal Crackers & Crackups

      "I think it is dangerous to confuse the idea of democracy with elections. Just because you have elections doesn't mean you are a democracy...I'm still taken aback at the extent of indoctrination and propaganda in the United States. It is as if people there are being reared in a sort of altered reality, like broiler chickens or pigs in a pen."

— Indian novelist Arundhati Roy
in the Barbwire of 9-12-2004


      The American electorate is a dumb cow that follows the herd, is easily stampeded, gets milked for all she's worth and produces offspring for meat, muscle or cannon fodder to benefit the few. When all used up, she is sent to the slaughterhouse so that she may give her overlords the last full measure of devotion, bones for Jello and hide for belts. No stars and stripes for her grave because she doesn't merit one, having been totally consumed by our consumptive system. — Barbwire 9-12-2010

"If elections mattered, they wouldn't let us do it." — Travus T. Hipp, 1982

Editor's Note: Many of the news links on this site are from Nevada dailies. In late 2006, the Reno Gannett-Journal began nuking much of its archive. If you encounter any broken links, I encourage you to contact them and send me a copy. On the one hand, they want to build their web traffic in order to increase the price of ads. On the other hand, they are killing that very traffic. Far be it from me to reconcile the Dilbert-style motivations of an outfit for which a 38 percent net profit is not enough. If you can explain it, please enlighten me. (Before you e-mail me, please read this bulletin — AB) UPDATE: In early 2008, the Las Vegas Sun "upgraded " its website, nuking more than a dozen years of links. If you find an orphaned Sun story, search their site for the title.

 



NevadaLabor.com Site Directory

Navigating the flagship—>Making quick work of NevadaLabor.com

Latest Breaking News & Bulletins + Almanac + Archives 1999-present

2021 U-News Front Page Headlines

2000-2021 U-News Front Page Archives

U-News Statewide Archives 1996-2018

In Search Of...

Right to Work for Less | Nevada Labor History | Sparks Centennial
Building Energy  | 100 Years of Union Apprenticeship

DoctorLawyerWatch.com | Barbwire Oilogopoly Archive| BallotBoxing.US

War Rooms: Banks, Cabbies, Cable TV, Cabela's, Cancer Kids/Mining, Corporate Welfare, Energy, Health Care, ReSurge.TV, Starbucks, Wal-Mart

NEW —> WE DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION
The Neverending Series
The Barbwire Molly Ivins Memorial Columniator Hall of Flames

Un-dissing the Dead—>The campaign against forcibly-paid newspaper obituaries

Labor Links | Nevada Writers | About the Editor | Deciding Factors


Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

 


The unmatched and comprehensive online meeting hall
for Nevada workers since 1995



The tale of our gorgeous union-created graphics

In 2002, we were honored to produce the Centennial Book for the 100th anniversary of the founding of northern Nevada Painters and Allied Trades Local 567/AFL-CIO. Working on a short time frame, we cast a nationwide net for appropriate cover art and succeeded beyond our wildest dreams thanks to muralists Kathleen Scarboro and Kathleen Farrell. The above illustration ("Papering the World: Joliet's Wallpaper Industry") appeared on the cover and interior of Local 567's Centennial Book, copies of which have been submitted to Nevada libraries and historical organizations. The mural, painted on a wall in Joliet, Illinois, depicts Painters Union members manufacturing wallpaper the old fashioned way, long about the time of Local 567's founding. Ms. Farrell is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, an affiliate of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades/AFL-CIO. Ms. Scarboro is a member of the Maison des Artists in Paris, the association which represents artists in France.

Ms. Farrell executes murals, mosaics and figurative sculptures for the labor movement. Her work and that of others may be viewed at the Friends of Community Public Art web site. "We have added new table top size sculptures for sale as well as additions of our life size sculptures," she says. "A number of the sculptures feature union members including the Baseball Player (The Catch) and The Firefighter. I have also finished the rad workers sculpture I mentioned awhile back. I welcome work from unions that would like to buy the existing sculptures or hire me to create awards, tabletop size sculptures and life size sculptures."

Sister Farrell may be contacted at terri@fcpaonline.org; phone (815) 722-4140; fax (815) 722-9007. You may view more of her work and obtain additional contact information at http://fcpaonline.org/artist.asp?a=farrelka

Rotating at the top of this site as well as in pastel form in the background of this page is a mural produced for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union/AFL-CIO. The others were acrylics on canvas done for the United Food and Commercial Workers and to memorialize the plight of U.S. chicken processing workers (si podemos). Enjoy.

Be well. Raise hell.

Murals/montages copyright © Kathleen Farrell


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Comments and suggestions appreciated. Click here and ask for inclusion on our mailing list.
But before you do so, please read this bulletin — AB

Entire contents copyright © 1982-2022 Andrew Barbano

[CWA 9413/AFL-CIO]