[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [IL4Kucinich] Letter to Halliburton regarding New Orleans city worker layoffs

[Chuck Minne]

Ann Breen-Greco <annrun at sbcglobal.net> wrote:Here is the letter which I faxed to Halliburton 713,759-2635 and below is the article on the layoffs.  I will also copy the Senators and my congressperson and send it as a letter to the editor.  We can start a "Halliburton, give back the money" campaign.  Ann






David Lesar, Chairman and CEO

Halliburton Corp.

5 Houston Center

1401 McKinney, S. 2400

Houston, TX 77010



Dear Mr. Lesar:



The Mayor of New Orleans has just announced that he must lay off 3,000 city workers because there is no money for the payroll.  Now is the opportunity for Halliburton to make restitution for all the billions reaped at the expense of our men and women in uniform and the American taxpayer.



In the weeks following the Katrina disaster the media has relentlessly asked, who is going to pay for this?  Yet, that question has not been asked about the billions expended in Iraq, $9 billion of which has gone to Halliburton.  And shamelessly, Halliburton was the first in line for no bid contracts after the President signed for billions in aid to the Gulf Coast region.  Tens of thousands of Americans are volunteering their time and skills--doctors, lawyers, nurses, technicians, city planners, pilots, people who went to evacuation centers just to help any way they could, children who sold lemonade to raise money.  And what did Halliburton do?  It continued feeding at the public trough at the expense of the Katrina victims, just as it is still doing in Iraq. Is there no shame in your corporate boardroom?   Halliburton should give back the no bid contracts.  Give it back to the city workers losing their jobs. Give it back to the evacuees who deserve housing and jobs, and to have
their dignity restored.  And then donate $1 billion and join the American people who are volunteering time for the relief effort.  You owe it.



Sincerely,





Ann Breen-Greco






Mayor of New Orleans Announces Layoffs
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer
Oct 4, 2005
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl==story&cid=Q4&u==/ap/20051005/ap_on_re_us/new_orleans_81

Mayor Ray Nagin said Tuesday the city is laying off as many as 3,000 employees — or about half its workforce — because of the financial damage inflicted on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina.

Nagin announced with "great sadness" that he had been unable to find the money to keep the workers on the payroll.

He said only non-essential workers will be laid off and that no firefighters or police will be among those let go.

"I wish I didn't have to do this. I wish we had the money, the resources to keep these people," Nagin said. "The problem we have is we have no revenue streams."

Nagin described the layoffs as "pretty permanent" and said that the city will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to notify municipal employees who fled the city in the aftermath of Katrina, which struck about a month ago.

The mayor said the move will save about $5 million to $8 million of the city's monthly payroll of $20 million. The layoffs will take place over the next two weeks.

"We talked to local banks and other financial institutions and we are just not able to put together the financing necessary to continue to maintain City Hall's staffing at its current levels," the mayor said.

Meanwhile, former President Clinton met with dozens of New Orleans-area evacuees staying at a shelter in Baton Rouge's convention center. And officials ended their door-to-door sweep for corpses in Louisiana with the death toll Tuesday at 972 — far fewer than the 10,000 the mayor had feared at one point. Mississippi's Katrina death toll was 221.

A company hired by the state to remove bodies will remain on call if any others are found.

Clinton, working with former President Bush to raise money for victims, shook hands and chatted with the evacuees, some of whom have been sleeping on cots in the Rivercenter's vast concrete hall for more than a month and complained of lack of showers, clean clothes, privacy and medical care.

"My concern is to listen to you ... and learn the best way to spend this money we've got," Clinton said.

Robert Warner, 51, of New Orleans said he and others have struggled to get private housing set up through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"We've been mired in the bureaucratic red tape since Day One," he said.

Clinton later was driven through New Orleans' heavily damaged lower Ninth Ward, where houses were caved in or pushed off their foundations.

"I saw things I'd never thought I'd see," Clinton said later before a meeting with residents of the largely untouched Algiers neighborhood.

Clinton told people at an Algiers high school that state officials are committed to creating a comprehensive plan to help Louisiana residents.

"We've got a much better chance of giving people a fair shake in the long-term than we did in the short-term," he said.




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[Frank Zappa]   
 

 







		
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