what’s shakin’

The State Fair is a member of NYSAAF, which puts the Fair in the position of supporting the lobbying effort opposing overtime.

According to Jessica Ziehm, a spokesperson for Ag and Markets, the State Fair pays $550 annually in dues to NYSAAF. In a phone message, Ziehm said that it is the position of Ag and Markets that state funds are not to be used to lobby state agencies or the Legislature, and “we will be reminding them of that position.” The Commissioner of Ag and Markets is former state Sen. Darrel Aubertine, from the North Country.

Advocates for workers at the State Fair said they face new obstacles in the form of budget cuts to DOL enforcement personnel. According to Ann Marie Taliercio, president of the CNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, the Magee bill “is just a further degradation of the laws to protect workers. It is an attempt to dissolve all rights for workers.

“A lot of this is due to the budget,” added Taliercio, who is also president of Local 150 HERE/Unite. “Workers have protections under state labor law, but there is nobody to enforce it. The DOL can’t hire enough people to enforce the law.”

—Ed Griffin-Nolan

Pedalers Delight

The first Wanderers’ Ride, in 2010, attracted 15 cyclists and raised $6,100 for the entity that shelters and adopts out wayward dogs and cats. Wanderers’ Rest Humane Association executive director Glenn Ivers said already 21 have signed on to this weekend’s three rides—he’d like to see 50—all with the same goal.

“The money raised supports the shelter,” he said of the Canastota facility that tends to 1,000 cats and dogs each year. “We have an independent operation, and 100 percent of the dollars raised go right here and most are adopted. This one is in a strategic spot; there is nothing else in Madison County. We need

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