Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Feb 21

2023

Allegations of racism at Tesla plant

Black employees at Tesla’s Gigafactory in South Buffalo have alleged they’re routinely subjected to racist treatment by managers, problems they say have persisted since the plant opened five years ago. Seven current and former Tesla employees, all of whom are Black, told Investigative Post the treatment they’ve experienced has ranged from offensive remarks to being repeatedly passed over for promotions. In one case, five employees recounted instances where groups of Black men were having conversations on the factory floor, only to be told by management they weren’t allowed to do that because “the optics looked bad” and they looked “like[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 17

2023

Workers dispute Tesla’s version of firings

Tesla has denied it fired dozens of workers in retaliation for joining a union organizing effort at its plant in South Buffalo. Rather, the dismissals were based on poor job performance reviews, and the timing of the firings was coincidental, the company said in a statement Thursday. But several employees and a former manager challenged Tesla’s representation of the dismissals in interviews with Investigative Post. They noted that the number of employees fired for poor performance — more than 40 — is an unusually large number. They also noted that most of the firings were in Tesla’s Autopilot portion of[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 16

2023

Tesla a target of unionizing effort

The union behind the successful effort to organize Starbucks, both here and nationally, is trying to do likewise at Tesla’s plant in South Buffalo. But, much like with Starbucks, organizers are squaring off with an employer with a history of aggressively fending off unionizing efforts. To wit, just one day after Tesla Workers United announced its organizing drive, Tesla fired 30 employees at its Buffalo plant, including some members of the union organizing team. They were dismissed via email Wednesday evening. “I strongly feel this is in retaliation to the committee announcement and it’s shameful,” Arian Berek, a fired worker[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 14

2023

IDA subsidizing more market-rate housing

Under normal circumstances, market-rate housing is supposed to conform to the forces of the free market: A developer buys a piece of land, builds housing, and sells or rents it for a price that recoups their costs and turns a profit. But in Niagara County, the Industrial Development Agency is poised to subsidize two market-rate apartment complexes — a total of 90 units — to the tune of $3.9 million. In one project, the proposed IDA subsidy would cover 22 percent of the building costs. That project would create zero jobs. In the other, the subsidies would cover 44 percent[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 9

2023

Niagara IDA ups its subsidies for fast food eateries

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday doubled down on two projects its leaders claim will convince tourists to spend their vacation dollars in Niagara Falls rather than across the border. Those projects? Two fast food restaurants, a Moe’s Southwest Grill and an A&W. The IDA had previously signaled it would offer tax subsidies to those projects — a total of $172,000 in property and sales tax breaks — and made those offers official at its monthly meeting Wednesday morning. That alone drew the ire of local politicians, namely state Sen. Sean Ryan, who’s pledged to reform IDAs across[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 8

2023

Report: Tax breaks costing schools big money

Public schools across the state are losing out on close to $2 billion a year — and probably a whole lot more — because of tax breaks given to corporations by economic development agencies. That’s among the conclusions of a study released today by Good Jobs First, a national research group that tracks economic development subsidies. The report said tax breaks affecting schools in New York far outpace those in other states. That lost revenue has prompted state lawmakers, including Sen. Sean Ryan, to propose legislation that would prohibit economic development agencies from abating property and sales taxes that are[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 27

2023

Bills target alleged abuses by IDAs

State lawmakers plan to introduce legislation this spring that would close a loophole that allows industrial development agencies to grant tax breaks to restaurants and other retail businesses — thanks in part to what they perceive as abuses in Niagara County. The state banned tax breaks for retail projects, including restaurants, a decade ago. But they left in exceptions for tourism projects and retail establishments in so-called “distressed areas” with high poverty and high unemployment. The new proposed legislation is sponsored by Sen. Sean Ryan, the newly-appointed chairman of the Commerce, Economic Development, and Small Business Committee, and Assemblyman Jonathan[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 26

2023

‘Weak’ relocation clause in Bills’ lease

The Buffalo Bills would have an easier time abandoning their new stadium in Orchard Park for another city than any of the other teams playing in subsidized stadiums built for NFL franchises in recent years, Investigative Post has found. Four NFL stadiums have been built with public assistance since 2014: Levi’s Stadium for the San Francisco 49ers, U.S. Bank Stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the Atlanta Falcons, and Allegiant Stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders. Like the Bills draft lease, those agreements require teams in those stadiums to pay back the taxpayer’s investment in the event they[...]

Posted 2 years ago