Greene County Democrat

Category: Politics

  • NEARLY 90% OF BLACK VOTERS FAVOR CLINTON OVER TRUMP IN NEW HU/NNPA NATIONAL BLACK VOTER POLL

    blackvoterpoll_nnpahu_graphic_web120-1280x640WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Howard University, announced the results of the 2016 Howard University/NNPA National Black Voter Poll. Nearly 90 percent of Black voters plan to cast ballots for Hillary Clinton and two percent plan to vote for Donald Trump, according to the poll.

    The HU/NNPA national polling center, located on the campus of Howard University, made over 21,200 telephone calls across the United States from October 23, 2016 to October 30, 2016.

    The HU/NNPA National Black Voter Poll revealed that the top issues influencing Black voters included the economy and jobs, income inequality, race and race relations, college affordability and high quality education in pre-kindergarten.

    Howard University faculty and students from multiple departments and disciplines including economics, political science, sociology, communications and media studies, were represented in the coordinated effort.

    “This multi-disciplinary team has drawn on its expertise to develop a comprehensive polling instrument designed to assess the opinions of Black Americans on the presidential candidates and other important issues facing the Black community and the nation,” said Terri Adams-Fuller, the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Howard University.

    Highlights from the HU/NNPA National Black Voter Poll:
    • 94% of those polled plan to vote in the upcoming election
    Of those who plan to vote:
    • 89.8% for Clinton
    • 2% for Trump
    • 0% for Johnson
    • 0% for Stein
    • 7.2% for another candidate
    The respondents also identified their party affiliations:
    • 82 % Identify as Democrat
    • 2% Identify as Republican
    • 9% Identify as Independent (67% normally vote for Democrats, 5% normally vote             Republican, 28% normally don’t vote for either major party)
    • 7% Identify as Other

    “As a result of this poll, candidates and those who will be successful in occupying the White House and controlling Congress will know the prioritized issues and nuanced concerns of the Black community,” said Rubin Patterson, the chairman of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Howard. “We hope that these findings will shape their policy and legislative agendas starting next year.”

    Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA said that the NNPA-HU National Black Voter Poll is timely and very significant for Black America.

    “The fact that 94 percent of Black Americans polled indicated that they intend to vote on November 8, or have already voted during the early voting period is indicative of the importance of the right to vote in Black America at a time when there has been inaccurate speculation about how Blacks in United States view the 2016 national elections,” said Chavis.
    Chavis added: “This poll provides clarity on the national issues and the candidates for President of the United States. The poll verifies that Hillary Clinton is the overwhelming favorite of Black American voters over Donald Trump.”

  • Joe Lee Powell, Alphonzo Morton Jr, LaJeffrey Carpenter absent Mayor Edwards last City of Eutaw Council meeting not held due to lack of quorum

    The regular Eutaw City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, 2016, at 6:00 PM was not held due to a lack of a quorum. The Mayor and three council-members must be present to have an official meeting. This was to be Ms. Edwards last regular meeting before the newly elected city officials take office on November 7, 2016.
    “The three City Council members – Joe Lee Powell, Alphonzo Morton Jr. and LaJeffrey Carpenter – did not inform me that they were going to be absent. Ms. Shelia Smith was present and Reginald Spencer called and said he would be late.
    “ I feel those three council-members deliberately skipped the meeting to delay progress on the improvements to our water system. They knew the important business that was on the agenda for the meeting,” said Mayor Hattie Edwards.
    Mayor Edwards advised that she was planning to continue with firing the three police officers: Lonnie Glenn, Robert Clayton and Rodriquez Jones, who she deemed to be insubordinate and unwilling to abide by city policies. The police had a closed hearing with the City Council on October 18. Edwards said, “ I am moving ahead with these firings because it is my duty and responsibility to do so. If the next Mayor and Council wants to reinstate those police officers that is up to them. It is my responsibility to act when city employees do not abide by our policies and treat the Mayor disrespectfully.”
    When reached by the Democrat, Alphonzo Morton Jr. said, “I did not go to the City Council meeting because I support the police and I did not want to go.” Councilman Joe Lee Powell said, “ I had another obligation and could not attend.” When asked if he had informed the Mayor of his absence, he said that he had not but he was familiar with other times that other members of the Council had been absent without reporting to the Mayor.Efforts to reach LaJeffrey Carpenter were unsuccessful.
    Mayor Hattie Edwards said that the $3.1 million loan and grant with USDA Rural Development was being held up because the City Council had not agreed and accepted an offer of interim financing from Co-Bank, which was willing to provide these funds, at a favorable interest rate.
    “I have done everything to put this project in place and I am sad to see that things will be delayed because we were unable to have a quorum for our meeting. I have asked Councilwomen Smith to poll the Council to see if they are willing to hold a special meeting to approve this interim financing agreement before our terms have ended,” said Edwards.
    Mayor Edwards also provided the Democrat with a copy of a procedures report from Principal & Associates CPA firm on the financial status of the City of Eutaw, as of September 30, 2016. The report shows the bank balances in 19 bank accounts maintained by the City of Eutaw showing $895,861.68 as of that date.
    The CPA report indicates that the City of Eutaw has paid all outstanding bonds and warrants. The City has no outstanding long-term debt as of September 30, 2016. There is one major outstanding bill of $15,667 owed to Waste Management for garbage collection at the end of the fiscal year, which the report calls a normal obligation.
    Employee tax returns to IRS were reviewed and found to be over paid. The City has requested a refund from IRS.
    The billing for the City Water Department is three months behind (August-October 2016) with an estimate of $147,176 in uncollected revenues. The CPA firm recommends hiring additional staff to read the water meters because those readings are needed to process up-to-date billings for water and other city services.

  • Emmett Till sign In Mississippi vandalized by dozens of bullets

    By: Zeba BlayVoices Culture Writer, The Huffington Post

     

    emmett-till-sign

    Emmett Till sign with bullet holes

        A memorial sign dedicated to commemorating the murder of Emmett Till has been vandalized in Money, Mississippi. The sign, marking the spot where Till’s body was discovered in August 1955, had been riddled with at least 50 bullet holes.

    At only 14, Till fell victim to racist violence when he was kidnapped, tortured and killed by an angry white mob for apparently whistling at a white woman. The disfigured body of the Chicago-born teen was found three days later floating in the Tallahatchie River.

    J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, the two white men charged with killing Till in 1955, were acquitted of the crime, though they later bragged about kidnapping and murdering the teen. Till’s death and the lack of justice against his murderers became a catalyst for the civil rights movement throughout the United States in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

    In 2007, eight signs marking key locations in the last days of Till’s life were erected by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission. By 2013, as revealed in a 2013 tweet by writer Christopher Hooks, the sign marking the location Till’s body was found had been shot at dozens of times.  More recently, on Oct. 15, a North Carolina man named Kevin Wilson Jr. posted an updated photo of the memorial sign, now riddled with at least 50 bullet holes, on Facebook.

    There doesn’t seem to be any leads on the identities of the vandals, though efforts are already being made to fix the sign. According to the New York Daily News, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center is attempting to raise $15,000 to replace the damaged sign. Until then, it stands as a reminder that the racism that killed Till still lives on today.

    It was not the first time that this particular sign has been vandalized since it was erected in 2007. The Emmett Till Memorial Commission put up eight site markers at important locations, including near the Mississippi river where Emmett’s body was found after he was kidnapped, tortured and killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives down South.

    As the Daily News notes, officials have said that replacing and restoring the sign every time someone damages it or steals it goes beyond their financial capabilities. However, after news spread across social media, donations came pouring in, raising the amount to go toward replacing the sign to a whopping $19,200 as of 3 p.m. EDT on Monday. More than 400 people have contributed to the effort so far. In Greene County, Alabama, signs naming Highway 14 as “Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Drive have attracted similar bullet hole attacks by vandals.

  • Black women will elect the next President

    By Freddie Allen (NNPA Newswire Managing Editor)

     

    ben-chavis-and-denise-rolark-barnesBen Chavis, CEO of National Newspaper Publishers with Denise Rolark-Barnes, NNPA Board Chair

      Black women will play a key role in electing the next president, according to a recent report by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). The AFL-CIO is a national trade group and the largest federation of unions in the United States.

    Carmen Berkley, the director of civil, human and women’s rights policy at the AFL-CIO said that the labor group wanted to provide context to the power that Black women voters have displayed over the past two presidential election cycles. In the briefing paper, researchers provided a case for why labor unions and non-profit organizations should be paying attention to Black women. “Without Black women, President Obama would not have won the White House in 2012,” said Berkley. “Black women voters delivered in key battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida where President Obama picked up 67 additional electoral votes.”

    Berkley continued: “If Black women had not turned out, President Obama would have been five electoral votes shy of winning the presidency.”

    Denise Rolark Barnes, the publisher of The Washington Informer and chairwoman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) said that Black women voters could make a monumental difference in the outcome of the 2016 election, just like they did in 2012.

    But Rolark Barnes also expressed concerns that neither of the presidential candidates have touched on the issues that are important to Black women and single parents, who are also the primary breadwinners in their families; issues like health care, education and the environment are very important to Black women and their families.“I don’t think we’ve heard enough from the candidates about how they plan to address issues that affect Black and Latino families,” Rolark Barnes said.

    Recently, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke at a campaign rally in Durham, N.C., flanked by “Mothers of the Movement,” a group of Black women who have lost children to gun violence or during interactions with law enforcement. The group included Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, Lucia McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis and Geneva Reed-Veal, the mother of Sandra Bland.

    Clinton also delivered remarks at the Black Women’s Agenda conference in September, where she acknowledged that even though the contributions of Black women are “often missing from the history books — make no mistake — you are the change makers, the path breakers, and the ground shakers. And, you are proof that yes, indeed, Black girl magic is real.”

    Berkley said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said that he knows the Black community, but he hasn’t proven that he understands the impact that Black people, especially Black women, have on society.

    “Black women drive turnout for the Black community,” said Berkley. “We care a lot about police reform, raising the minimum wage, protecting social security and we are economically liberal when it come to the government.” Berkley also noted that Black women have been very reliable voters in the past two election cycles. In 2012 and 2014 Black women voted at higher rates than other women.

    According to the briefing paper on the importance of Black women voters in 2016, “In 2012, 83 percent of registered Black women turned out, compared to 73 percent for all other women, a ten-point difference. Black women turned out at a higher rate than other women in 2014 as well. Fifty-five percent of registered Black women turned out in 2014, compared to 53 percent for all other women.”

    Berkley said that Black women do more than vote. “We’re very active in our churches, we’re very active in our communities and we’re very active in our unions,” she said.

    According to a survey by Lake Research Partners (LRP), a leading public opinion and political strategy research firm, Black workers are far more likely to view labor unions favorably (77 percent for Blacks vs. 50 for all-respondents) compared to other workers.

    Petee Talley, the secretary-treasurer of Ohio branch of the AFL-CIO, said that evidence shows that Black women union members have stepped up in remarkable ways. “Not only are they organizing inside of their unions, they are organizing the Black community around vote registration efforts,” said Talley.    And when Black women take on leadership roles, they have the power to significantly affect elections inside their unions.

    The briefing paper said: “As labor scholars Kate Bronfenbrenner and Dorian Warren found in their oft-cited study “Race, Gender, and the Rebirth of Trade Unionism,” unions won 89 percent of elections where Black women were the lead organizers compared with 53 percent for female organizers overall and 42 percent for male organizers.”

    The report noted that Black women were more likely than any other group to skip at least on race on the ballot. “By skipping down ballot races, Black women lose the potential to be a political force in local races, which arguably have a more direct impact on the day-to-day lives of Black people,” the report said.  The briefing paper said that as the labor movement grows, it should look to Black communities and Black women organizers as a potential base for power.  “This requires incorporating Black communities into long-term strategic thinking and lifting up the most progressive voice of the Democratic base,” the briefing paper said. “For organized labor and other parts of the political left, Black women are a smart investment, in 2016 and beyond.”

    Rolark Barnes said that Black women hold the power of the vote and also have the influence in their households to make sure their families and friends get out to vote.

    Rolark Barnes continued: “We need to come out strong, like we did before, and make the difference we know we can make in November.”

     

     

  • Oprah on Hillary Clinton: ‘You don’t have to like her’

    oprah-et-hillary_276072_largeby the grio |

     Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Rodham Clinton

     

    Oprah Winfrey endorsed Hillary Clinton in June, but she hasn’t spoken out much on the Democratic candidate’s behalf. But in an interview set to air next Thursday, she explained to the American public that there is really only one choice.

    “The reason why I haven’t been vocal, other than saying I’m with her, is because I didn’t know what to say that could actually pierce through all the noise and the chaos and the disgusting vitriol that’s going on and actually be heard,” Winfrey told the Dallas-based pastor T.D. Jakes in the hour-long interview.

    “But there really is no choice, people. All the people sitting around talking about they can’t decide. This is what I what I wanna say — wait a minute,” she said as Jakes tried to interrupt. “I hear this all the time. You get into conversations — and there’s not a person in this room who hasn’t been in this same conversation — where people say, ‘I just don’t know if I like her.’”

    But, she insisted, that is the wrong question to be asking. “She’s not coming over to your house! You don’t have to like her,” she said. “You don’t have to like her. Do you like this country? Do you like this country? You better get out there and vote. Do you like the country? Do you like freedom and liberty? Do you like this country? OK. Do you like democracy or do you want a demagogue?”

  • Gov. Bentley to name Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming to set the course for lottery, electronic bingo in state

    greenetrackOn October 3, 2016, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley issued Executive Order 24 creating the Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming.
    This group is tasked with “assessing the current state and local laws on gambling, as well as the taxes generated therefrom, and to evaluate the best practices in other states, including tax revenue structures and the enabling and implementing regulations and law, as well as comparing Alabama state laws to applicable Federal gaming laws.”
    The Council is to report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by January 31, 2017, prior to the next legislative session.
    The Governor’s action comes after he and Attorney General Luther Strange sent a series of letters at the end of September 2016 urging local Sheriffs and District Attorneys around the state to enforce the laws prohibiting electronic bingo in their jurisdictions. This letter was sent to Greene County Sheriff Benison and D.A. Greg Griggers.Governor Bentley and Luther Strange sent a more specific and pointed letter to the Sheriffs and D. A.’s for Macon and Lowndes County, listing specific electronic bingo facilities, like Victoryland, which recently opened in these counties and requesting that they be closed based on Alabama law and Supreme Court decisions.
    The law enforcement officials in Macon and Lowndes responded to this letter saying that they did not have the capacity or desire to move against electronic bingo facilities in their jurisdictions.
    In his Executive Order creating the Gaming Advisory Council, the Governor indicates that gaming in Alabama has been the subject of dispute and controversy and that the State of Alabama needs a fresh perspective and a clear path forward as it relates to gaming and games of chance.
    Efforts by the Governor to pass an Alabama State Lottery in this summer’s special legislative session met with defeat because of different gaming interests, including electronic bingo in counties with local Constitutional Amendments. Indian casinos in Alabama and casinos in other states, were not satisfied or protected by the legislation. The proceeds of the state lottery would have been used primarily to support Medicaid in the General Fund and possibly scholarships and pre-K educational programs.
    The Governor’s proposed Advisory Council on Gaming will have at least 11 members appointed as follows:

    • five (5) appointed by the Governor;
    • two members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House, one Republican and one Democrat;
    • two members of the Alabama Senate, appointed by the President Pro Temp, one Democrat and one Republican;
    • one representative of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, appointed by the Governor;
    • one representative of the Alabama Sheriffs Association, appointed by the Governor;
    • and additional appointments as the Governor deems necessary.

    In the two weeks since his announcement of the Council, the Governor has not publically announced the appointment of any members.
    The Greene County Democrat contacted Luther “Nat” Winn, CEO of Greenetrack for a statement of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Gaming. “ I hope Governor Bentley is serious and sincere about seeking a way forward for gaming in the state and not just trying to divert attention from the issue. He seems to be moving slowly in naming the Council. They have a lot of work to do in preparing recommendations for the upcoming legislative session, which begins in February 2017,” said Winn.
    “We intend to continue operating in Greene County under Constitutional Amendment 743, because the voters of Greene County authorized electronic bingo. We know that Luther Strange has appealed our latest case to the Alabama Supreme Court, but we feel we are on sound legal and constitutional grounds to operate electronic bingo in the county.
    “We feel the people of Greene County will support us and rally to our defense if the Supreme Court decides against the jobs, contributions and progress provided by gaming in Greene County,” said Winn.

  • Community awaits Eutaw decision on hearing held for police officers

    On Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, Eutaw Mayor Hattie Edwards and the City Council held a closed personnel hearing reportedly for three Eutaw police officers who had been placed on administrative leave. At the close of the hearing, the outcome was not announced. It is expected that at the next regularly scheduled city council meeting on Tuesday, October 25, the public will be be given more information regarding the hearing and subsequent decisions.
    In an attempt to ascertain who has hiring and firing authority in city government, the Greene County Democrat staff researched recent municipal cases on this issue which resulted in Supreme Court decisions.
    The Alabama Supreme Court has issued various case rulings confirming that, in Alabama, mayors alone have the power to hire and fire municipal employees. In 2009 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Fairfield Mayor Kenneth Coachman, who had sued five members of the city council after they voted in favor of an ordinance that would have stripped the mayor of appointing authority. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dan King ruled that, according to state law, the authority rested with the mayor. The Supreme Court upheld King’s decision.
    In similar cases steaming from the 2009 decision, the Alabama Supreme Court issued rulings against the city councils of Fairhope and Daphne when they passed ordinances removing their mayors’ power over personnel matters and giving it to themselves. The Supreme Court forced the city councils to undo the ordinances.
    At press time, the Democrat was unable to reach the city attorney to corroborate the process and procedures involved in hiring and firing practices in Eutaw Municipal Government.

  • Girls freed from Boko Haram reunited with families

    Jane Onyanga-Omara , USA TODAY

    nigerian-girls-returned

     Some of the Nigerian girls

    The 21 girls who were rescued last week after being kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram more than two years ago have been reunited with their families.

    They were among more than 200 students taken from their school in the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok by the extremists in April 2014, sparking the global “Bring Back Our Girls” social media campaign.

    Speaking at a ceremony in the capital Abuja on Sunday, one of the girls said they were starved, the BBC reported. Many were forced to convert from Christianity to Islam.

    Information Minister Lai Mohammed denied reports that the girls were released in exchange for four detained Boko Haram leaders. The Nigerian government also denied that a ransom was paid. Some 197 kidnapped girls are believed to remain missing.

    The negotiations for the girls’ release were brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government.

    Speaking Sunday, the Nigerian president’s spokesman said the Boko Haram splinter group that released the girls was willing to negotiate the release of 83 more girls.

    “These 21 released girls are supposed to be tale bearers to tell the Nigerian government that this faction of Boko Haram has 83 more Chibok girls,” Garba Shehu, spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, told Reuters by phone                  https://twitter.com/PhilipObin/status/787768790012551169

    “The faction said it is ready to negotiate if the government is willing to sit                            down with them,” he said, adding that authorities were willing to negotiate.

     

    Commenting on work to free the 83 girls, Mohammed said: “Already we are on phase two and we are already in discussions. But of course you know these are very delicate negotiations, there are some promises we made also about the confidentiality of the entire exercise and we intend to keep them.”

    International Alert — a London-based peace building charity — said it worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund in Nigeria and local organizations to help reintegrate girls who escaped from Boko Haram into their communities.

    “Tragically, the ordeal does not end when these girls and women escape or are rescued,” said Kimairis Toogood, an adviser for International Alert in Nigeria. “Many face rejection, and even violence, from their own families and communities due to stigma around sexual violence — especially if they return with a baby. This makes re-integration extremely difficult.”

    Shehu told Reuters that the splinter group said the rest of the kidnapped Chibok girls were with the part of the group that is under the control of Abubakar Shekau, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL or ISIS, in March 2015.

    A number of extremists have moved away from Shekau over his failure to adhere to ISIL’s guidance, Reuters reported. In August, ISIL named Musab al-Barnawi as its new leader in west Africa.

     

     

  • #BlackoutBR protests, boycotts continue in Baton Rouge over Alton Sterling shooting

    By Meghan Ellis (The Drum, NNPA Member)

     

    blackoutprotest_thedrum_lores.jpg

    Protesters line the walls of a conference room at city hall during a police reform meeting in Baton Rouge, La. (The Drum)

     

     

     

    BATON ROUGE — As shootings continue to plague cities across the country, frustrated citizens are continuing their fight for justice. With each shooting, dashcam and other forms of surveillance footage have been released to ensure complete disclosure. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case with the deadly shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge.

     

    After nearly three months, only the cell phone videos filmed by spectators have been released. In addition to the withholding of dashcam footage and other surveillance videos, Baton Rouge police officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II are still on administrative leave. No charges have been brought against the officers and citizens are wondering why.

     

    Now, citizens and protesters are demanding answers. Monday, Sept. 26 was declared #BlackOutBR, a day where local citizens wore black clothes and did not work, go to college, or shop. A rally was held at the steps of City Hall calling for information on the Alton Sterling case. After the rally, protesters entered a police reform meeting to hear the committee’s plans and to demand answers and action.

     

    “The problem is, with an exception of a few, we don’t see these people in the community,” businessman Cleve Dunn Jr. told the committee. “When you look around and you don’t see the community, there should be no meeting.”

     

    The committee included District Attorney Hillar Moore, councilmembers Tara Wicker, Donna Collins Lewis and Erika Green, Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Carl Dabadie Jr., local pastors and residents.

     

    “What happens when leaders and protesters disrupt a meeting on police reform? Things get uncomfortable, they get real, and then they get a seat at the table, alongside the chief of police, the DA, & the DOJ,” wrote artist Walter Geno McLaughlin on Facebook.

     

    More than 30 protesters lined the walls of the small meeting room, including Sterling’s aunts. “We want to press upon our local government but also go all the way to feds that we want a decision on the investigation, said Dunn who explained the reason for the gathering and expressed protesters’ demands.

     

    “This issue of Alton Sterling has been divested from the people in this room as much as we hate to hear that,” said Will Jorden, who is an assistant district attorney and prosecutor. “We hear the frustration. I am frustrated. These pastors are frustrated. But what this [committee] does is give the people a sense of legitimacy and to be able to move forward with positive change.”

     

    Wicker said that the group wasn’t charged with coming up with solutions. “That’s not our job. That’s not what we are doing here,” said Wicker. “Our charge is to setup an infrastructure so that what you are saying can actually be heard, documented and put into a policy paper that will be submitted as the voice of the community.”

     

    Protesters presented a list of demands which included a request for changes to be made to city and state flood contracts. The change to contracts would require the cancellation of current contracts in order to include Black-owned firms in renegotiations. The third demand is in reference to police reform. With incidents of alleged injustices resolved with internal investigations, community leaders and local citizens adamantly believe there needs to be a task force in place on state and local law enforcement levels to reform police departments across the city and state.

     

        The Drum is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Learn more about becoming a member at www.nnpa.org.

     

  • Unions picket outside Trump’s Washington DC Hotel

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    Union members picket at Trump’s Hotel

    Hundreds of workers protested outside Donald Trump’s newly-opened hotel in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to demand he recognize and negotiate with the union at Las Vegas’ Trump International Hotel.

    Workers at the Las Vegas hotel, which is half-owned by the Republican presidential candidate, voted to organize in Dec. 2015 and the union was recognized by the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year.

    However, Trump and the hotel management have refused to recognize the vote of roughly 500 workers, saying it was “anything but free and fair.”

    Workers representing some of the country’s largest labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, CWA, AFSCME, and UNITE Here were holding banners and chanting: “What do we want? Contract! When do we want it? Now!”

    Similar pickets have been organized also outside Trump hotels in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Honolulu.

    During his polemical presidential campaign, Trump has shown his disdain for unions, saying that wages are “too high.”

    With just weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 8, polls show Trump is losing, with a widening gap between he and his Democratic Party rival, Hillary Clinton. His numbers dropped following the revelations of a lewd tape in which he boasted about sexually assaulting women.