Monthly Archive for May, 2010

RI Republicans,

Please join us on Wednesday night at the Westin Hotel, as we take a stand against the Democrats’ hostility toward free-market capitalism. Once and for all, let’s get the government out of private business, and bring jobs back to Rhode Island.

RI Young Republicans
Board of Directors

Rhode Island Republicans Boycott the Boycott, and Support Procaccianti Group by Hosting Two Events at Westin Hotel This Week!

For several weeks, union activists and elected Democrats have been orchestrating a boycott of the Westin Hotel in downtown Providence. Progressive activists and the hotel workers union, Unite Here Local 217, have cited pay cuts and increases to healthcare co-pays as the reason for the boycott.

The boycott has garnered a lot of media attention, and has been supported by Brown University activists and Netroots Nation, a high profile progressive organization currently threatening to suspend its plans to hold their 2011 convention in Providence unless the Procaccianti Group caves to union demands.

In response, members of the RIGOP and the RI Young Republicans will be making a statement of opposition to the boycott by hosting two events at the Westin Hotel this Wednesday night: The RIGOP State Central Committee meeting, and a Young Republican Night Out at the Westin. Hundreds of RIGOP members will be in attendance for the State Central Committee meeting Wednesday evening. When the meeting is adjourned, they will join the RI Young Republicans as they visit several restaurants and bars located throughout the hotel.

“As usual, there’s a whole other side to the story that nobody is hearing,” says RIGOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione. “The Procaccianti Group is a world class employer. If Democrats continue to torture every local business with threats of strikes and boycotts, especially in the midst of this recession, Rhode Island will soon find itself with no employers left.”

“We hope the Procaccianti Group will come to understand that there are many Rhode Islanders who realize the horrible business climate Democrats have created for them, and that they can count on the RIGOP to fight for more of a free market economy here in Rhode Island,” said chairman of the RI Young Republicans Travis Rowley. “And we hope that the Westin employees come to understand that the policies initiated by Democrats and their labor bosses will ultimately result in the loss of their jobs. They are the same policies that have caused Rhode Island to have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country right now.”

The two Republican spokesmen also have a lot to say regarding the Providence City Council’s recent moves to impose its will on private companies, particularly the hospitality and tourism industries. Regarding the City Council’s recent ordinance, that forces new hotel employers to retain employees for at least six months, Rowley stated, “Democrats will never learn to keep their hands out of people’s private affairs, and put their faith in the free market. They’re just not comfortable unless they’re controlling every facet of the economy.”

Chairman Cicione said, “What’s going on at the Westin right now, including the ordinances that the City Council continues to levy, are exactly the types of things that have delivered Rhode Island to the brink of economic collapse. This is why Rhode Island ranks at the bottom of every business ranking in the country.”

“The worst possible scenario for Rhode Island workers is for their jobs to disappear. We’re trying to prevent that from happening. That’s the message we’re trying to get across,” Rowley added.

Press Release: Rhode Island Young Republicans