The Electronic Newsletter of the Florida AFL

New Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
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Show Your Support for the Addison Steel Workers
IP: 216.77.44.67
Posted on March 31, 2004 at 01:55:23 PM by Stacie Wilson

On February 19, 2004 the workers at Addison Steel ( a division of Schuff International) voted overwhelmingly to be represented by the Iron Workers Union in order to improve the lives of themselves, their families adn their community. The workers are seeking relief from sub-par wages, benefits and working conditions. Addison Steel/Schuff has treated their attempt to have a voice at work with continued threats, intimidation, lay-offs and reduced work hours. The Iron Woerks Union and the Addison/Schuff workers are calling on the community to support this struggle for economic and social justcie. Together the workers and the community can influence Addison/Schuff into calling back the workers who were layed-off back, restore the normal work schedule adn give the workers a contract. This community needs good paying jobs with health care adn retirement benefits!

Come Join the Addison Steel workers for a family picnic and hear their story on Sunday, April 25th from 12pm to 5pm . The picnic will be at the Fields of Fame Park in Apopka.

Food and refreshments will be provided. If you or your organization would like to speak please call 305 607 1850

Please let the Addison/Schuff workers know that you or your organization endorses this "Call to Justice" by contacting Angel Dominguez at 305 607 1850 or emailing unionangel50@aol.com.

Next weekend marks the 11th annivesary of the passing of Cesar Chavez. We are asking our labor brothers and sisters in the labor movement to help us advance Cesar's mission of justice for farm workers by helping the workers at Gallo of Sonoma win a new United Farm Workers contract.

Please consider sending a flow-through appeal to your members asking them send a message to Gallo of Sonoma.

The legendary UFW founder called for a boycott of Gallo wines in 1973, after Gallo refused to renegotiate a contract with the UFW. By 1975, a nationwide Louis Harris poll showed millions of Americans were boycotting Gallo wines in support of the union.

Now Gallo’s next generation—Matt and Gina Gallo of Gallo of Sonoma—are refusing to provide health and other basic benefits to 75% of their work force supplied by farm labor contractors. Matt Gallo even told his workers it was the union’s fault they don’t have health benefits—an outright lie. Last December, a California judge ruled Gallo of Sonoma illegally tried to get rid of the UFW.

In 1975, Cesar Chavez said, “Gallo has made the fatal blunder of taking on an unbeatable enemy, the truth. All the money and PR men in the world cannot defeat the truth.”

The UFW has been trying to sit down with Gallo and negotiate a contract. On March 30--the day before Cesar's birthday—both parties spent the day with a mediator. Despite significant good-faith concessions offered by the UFW, Gallo refused to agree on a contract the workers can live with.

We urgently need to put more pressure on Gallo. As you celebrate the legacy of Cesar Chavez, please help the people for whom he dedicated his life. Please help us by flowing through a message to your members today.

You can contact Jocelyn Sherman at 818-565-5603 or <Jsherman12@aol.com> and let the UFW know you will be willing to flow through a message. She will arrange it with GetActive.

Thank you for your support.

Fraternally,

Sticking it to taxpayers
( 04/14/2004 © Florida Today)
Gov. Jeb Bush's budget this year has more than $90 million in new annual revenue. Unfortunately, the source of this money is drawn from the checkbooks of county property taxpayers.

Let Legislature hear your voice LOUD and clear
(04/14/2004 © Orlando Sentinel)
As the 2004 legislative session winds down, it is becoming more and more obvious that the governor and legislative leaders are out of touch with what Floridians want, particularly when it comes to the budget.

Editorial: Disparaging libraries
( 04/14/2004 © Stuart News)
Florida 's legislators are playing a version of the shell game on state taxpayers. They make a great show of cutting state taxes to return money, while passing responsibility for funding many existing services and unfunded mandates to local government.

Feuding derails talks on state budget
( 04/15/2004 © Miami Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - A week of rest apparently wasn't enough to stop the inevitable feuding between the House and Senate. Some lawmakers groused Wednesday that the House speaker is demanding that the Senate take up legislation he wants to use in his U.S. Senate campaign before he starts negotiating the budget.

Painful leadership
(04/16/2004 © Gainesville Sun)
number of important programs will be eliminated or severely hurt by budget cuts being proposed by legislative leaders in Tallahassee, but none is as indefensible as the repeal of the Medically Needy program serving 27,000 victims of catastrophic illness.

Marlins closer to getting state cash
(04/16/2004 © Miami Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Marlins, whose bid for money from the state Legislature to help build a new stadium has appeared as dead as a frozen fish fillet, got a glimmer of hope Thursday.

Budget meeting quick, peaceful
(04/16/2004 © Ft. Myers News-Press)
TALLAHASSSEE The first organizational meeting Thursday for House and Senate budget negotiations was quick and peaceful but how long it stays that way was up for debate.

Medicaid misstep
( 04/14/2004 © St. Petersburg Times)
Florida 's House Republicans appear hell-bent on rewarding for-profit health maintenance organizations at the expense of the poor. Under their plan - approved with little study or public debate - Medicaid recipients would have to seek mental health treatment through HMOs, not the community-based centers that have performed the task long and well.

Critics: Senate s savings would have human cost
(04/14/2004 © Orlando Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE -- Although she had no health insurance, Tiffany Stafford was able to get steady medical care in the months leading up to the birth of her daughter, Bailey, last month. "I was able to go for monthly doctor visits and then went every two weeks toward the end," said Stafford , 27, of St. Cloud .

Produce Funds, Not Agony
(04/14/2004 © Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
State lawmakers once again are proposing cuts to Florida's Medically Needy program to curb rising health care costs. They'd do better by fully funding the program and freeing it from an annual ritual of proposing sharp budget cuts and scaring ailing participants before "finding" the money to fund the program for another year.

Lemon for lawmakers efforts
( 04/14/2004 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Florida voters ordered a custom-model education for 4-year-olds in 2002. Lawmakers are building a wreck. House and Senate bills don't provide the free, high-quality education for young children that voters mandated in the constitutional amendment.

Editorial: Pre-K Bills Betray Voters
( 04/14/2004 © Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
'You can pay me now or pay me later.' Remember that old TV commercial about car care? If so, you'll recall that when you eschew preventive maintenance and opt to pay later in the form of repairs, you always pay more.

Prekindergarten measure approved by Senate panel
(04/13/2004 © Lakeland Ledger)
TALLAHASSEE , Fla. Parents of 4-year-olds could choose between prekindergarten programs offered by public schools and the private sector by the 2005-06 school year, under a bill approved Tuesday by a Senate panel.

Will Floridians get what they ordered?
( 04/14/2004 © Miami Herald)
Education experts nationwide are watching the evolution of Florida 's prekindergarten legislation as closely as political experts watched the Florida vote in the last presidential election. When Floridians voted to mandate ''high quality'' prekindergarten education for all of the state's 4-year-olds, the state became the first to hold a successful referendum on this issue.

Senate moves pre-K plans closer to Bush s ideal
(04/14/2004 © Orlando Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE -- The state Senate overhauled its pre-kindergarten proposal once again Tuesday, making significant changes that Gov. Jeb Bush said brings it closer to a plan he has endorsed. The new Senate proposal adds several standards designed to ensure high-quality pre-K classes, such as more rigorous accreditation requirements.

Martin, Palm Beach counties might test statewide pre-K program
(04/14/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE -- Palm Beach and Martin counties' school districts could be testing the state's new universal pre-kindergarten program this summer if a Senate plan passed Tuesday becomes law

School funding equation is a formula for a political fight
(04/13/2004 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
The Florida Legislature does not hand out money for public schools based on the simple brute force of political influence. No siree, it follows a mathematical formula. A mathematical formula based on the simple brute force of political influence.

Schools challenge funding study
(04/15/2004 © Miami Herald)
Arming for a fight over $35 million in cuts to South Florida schools, the Miami-Dade County School Board voted on Wednesday to try to discredit a study that lawmakers are using to justify proposed changes to education funding.

Parties differ over voucher schools
( 04/15/2004 © St. Petersburg Times)
Florida 's school voucher movement was sold five years ago as a get-tough accountability measure for public schools. Failing public schools would be forced to repair themselves, Republican lawmakers said, if the alternative was losing students and money to private schools.

Senators want to tighten voucher rules
( 04/15/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE -- Voucher distribution groups and voucher-taking schools would come under tighter regulation with legislation that reached the Senate floor Wednesday.

House panel OKs voucher bill
( 04/14/2004 © Northwest Florida Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE (AP) - A bill designed to increase oversight of Florida 's two largest voucher programs was approved by a House committee Tuesday.

Mandated civics
( 04/14/2004 © Tallahassee Democrat)
Teaching civics is a splendid idea. Lawmakers in Florida are thinking of mandating it for all community college students. Since the state's FCAT tests don't require any knowledge of civics, government, public policy or even history, it's entirely possible to graduate from public schools with only a scarce awareness, for example, that there are three branches of government.

House Democrats Fight Amendment Changes
( 04/16/2004 © Capitol News Service)
Democrats in Florida 's House of Representatives say you should have the right to change your state constitution. Several democrats gathered at the Capitol with the grassroots group 'ACORN,' or the 'Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.'

Petition drive measures approved by House panel
( 04/14/2004 © Bradenton Herald)
TALLAHASSEE , Fla. - A package of changes designed to make it harder for voters to change the state constitution by petition drive was approved Wednesday by a House panel. Most of the measures need voter approval since they would revise the state constitution.

Constitution change rules nearing vote
(04/14/2004 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE -- Senior House Democrats lashed out at Republicans Wednesday for trying to take power away from the people when trying to change the state constitution. Democratic Leader Doug Wiles, D-St. Augustine, said at a press conference House Democrats will continue to fight changes this session they say will hurt voters.

Democrats vow to block amendment bids
(04/15/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE -- Seizing a rare opportunity to set the legislative agenda, House Democrats vowed Wednesday to block Republican plans to put a series of controversial amendments on the ballot in August. 'There

Constitution amendments gain
(04/15/2004 © Miami Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - Saying it is determined to make it harder for ''people with money to simply buy their way onto the ballot,'' a state House committee gave a strong push Wednesday to a series of proposed changes to the state Constitution that make it harder for citizens to circumvent the Legislature.

Editorial: Independent judiciary faces trial by politics
( 04/14/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
There ought to be a law against some of the assaults that Republicans in Tallahassee mount each year on Florida 's courts. In this year's case, fortunately, there is. By a sickeningly lopsided vote of 72-45, the House passed a bill that amounts to political extortion.

Discord with courts reaches high
(04/14/2004 © St. Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE - Former Chief Justice Arthur England spent two years planning to get a new appellate court created in 1979. But two weeks ago, the Florida House did it in 20 minutes, approving a new appeals court the Florida Supreme Court never requested.

In 1984, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment placing limits on the state's ability to raise revenue, in other words, raise taxes. Revenue collection is limited to the prior fiscal year's amount plus an adjustment for growth. That growth adjustment is based on the aggregate personal income of Floridians. The House has passed a bill that will put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would substitute an appropriations limit for the current revenue limitation. This limitation would mean that state appropriations in any given year could not be more than they were during the prior fiscal year plus an adjustment for growth. This growth adjustment would be based on Florida median household income. This provision could be set aside through an emergency declaration of the Governor or in a time of war. This bill has essentially one purpose…the elimination of state services. This legislation was originally proposed in 2002. At that time, an analysis conducted by the House of Representative’s very own Committee on State Administration, estimated that had this provision already been in effect, the 2000-2001 budget would have had $6.8 billion less than it had -- meaning the Legislature would have to cut $6.8 billion rather than the $1.3 billion they had to cut at that time. This situation has not changed; Florida is still running budget deficits, still using trust funds to support the budget and still cutting education and social services. Should this constitutional amendment pass, the situation would worsen TEN FOLD! This is a cynical attack by the most extreme right-wing on state government.

Editorial: Tax-cap nonsense
( 04/15/2004 © Daytona Beach News-Journal)
The current crop of state legislators can take credit for sabotaging the state budget. Thursday, the state House took the vandalism one step further by voting out a proposal that will make it harder for future lawmakers to clean up the mess.

House targets state spending
(04/16/2004 © Miami Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - A plan where voters could impose a spending cap on lawmakers passed the House on Thursday, although indications are the Senate will not seriously consider the proposal. The legislation (HJR 385), sponsored by Rep. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, passed the House 74-43; four Republicans voted against the proposal, and no Democrats supported the measure.

House Republicans propose tight cap on state spending
( 04/16/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE -- Conservative House Republicans voted Thursday to ask voters to put severe restrictions on the growth of state spending. Despite a heated floor debate, the 74-43 vote in favor of the measure (HJR-385) was largely ceremonial.

Voters may get chance to impose spending cap
( 04/15/2004 © Northwest Florida Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE (AP) - Future Florida lawmakers shouldn't be allowed to spend money as freely as their predecessors, a House panel decided Wednesday. The Appropriations Committee voted 29-17 for a ballot measure that would give voters a chance to impose a spending cap on the Legislature.

Democrats questioning holiday hiatus legality
(04/15/2004 © St. Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE - House Democrats on Wednesday called on Gov. Jeb Bush to ask the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether lawmakers mistakenly adjourned April 2. If they did, Bush should call a special session to complete work on the state budget and other important issues before the scheduled end of the session April 30, the Democrats said.

King has no plans to retire this year
(04/15/2004 © Jacksonville - Florida Times Union)
TALLAHASSEE -- Senate President Jim King on Wednesday denied rumors that he will resign his seat after this year's legislative session and said he may in fact run for re-election to represent Jacksonville.

Move to ban overseas contracts defeated in Senate
(04/14/2004 © Tallahassee Democrat)
A bill tightening standards for state purchasing moved forward in a Senate committee Tuesday after an attempt to ban overseas contracts was defeated.

Air quality reform bills die quiet death
(04/16/2004 © Bradenton Herald)
Controversial air quality legislation in Tallahassee is dead after its Senate sponsor conceded Thursday there is simply too much opposition to see it pass both the Florida House and Senate in these final two weeks of the 2004 legislative session.

AARP Turns up Heat on Phone Bill
( 04/16/2004 © Capitol News Service)
The bill freezing phone rates is itself frozen in legislative limbo. Senate utilities chairman Mike Bennet is refusing to take it up. 'I see no reason to bring it up when we have got a problem with the court system out there, let's see what they are going to do,' says Bennet.

Constitutional Crisis
( 04/16/2004 © Capitol News Service)
Governor Jeb Bush says he doesn't need to ask the Florida Supreme Court if Florida lawmakers violated the constitution... he'll take their word for it that they didn't.

Value a Mexican life
( 04/16/2004 © Palm Beach Post)
When the Florida Supreme Court rules a law unconstitutional, the Legislature typically corrects the problem. Because of the political influence of the insurance and agriculture industries, that hasn't happened with a discriminatory workers compensation measure the court struck down 15 years

Democrats push for paper
(04/16/2004 © Tallahassee Democrat)
House Republicans refused to make the new touch-screen voting machines leave "paper trails" Thursday, branding the idea an attempt by Democrats to rekindle fear among voters still angry about Florida's 2000 presidential election fiasco.

Beer Titan Opposes Train Plan, Cites Study
(04/16/2004 © Tampa Tribune)
TAMPA - A corporate heavyweight came out swinging Thursday against plans to build a bullet train in Florida, assailing the project as something that will force higher taxes and siphon money from other state needs. Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., the beer giant that owns Central Florida 's Busch Gardens and SeaWorld theme parks, said highway expansion would be a better option.

On March 31, 2003 , the Bush Administration proposed new regulations that would disqualify more than 8 million workers from overtime protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These millions of workers would no longer be entitled to any extra pay for their overtime work. Senator Harkin is seeking a Senate vote on his amendment to prohibit the Labor Department (DOL) from restricting overtime eligibility. The Harkin amendment would allow DOL to extend overtime coverage to more lowincome or other workers, and would allow the Labor Department to update, clarify, or otherwise improve the overtime eligibility rules in any way that does not restrict overtime eligibility, but would simply guarantee that workers would not lose their overtime rights. Senator Harkin has been trying to offer his amendment to S. 1637, the FSC tax bill, but he may offer it to other legislation as well. Both the Senate and the House have already voted to prohibit overtime cuts. On September 10, 2003 the Senate approved the Harkin Amendment to prohibit funding for any regulation that restricted overtime eligibility, and the House passed a motion supporting the Harkin amendment on October 2, 2003 . However, the Harkin amendment was stripped from the Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 2673) in late November under heavy White House pressure. The Labor Department said for months that it planned to issue a final overtime regulation before the end of March 2004. On March 26, 2004 , DOL sent the final version of the regulation to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final approval. While we have not seen the final regulation, the Administration’s fierce opposition to the Harkin amendment is conclusive evidence that it intends to restrict overtime eligibility. If OMB approves the final regulation before Congress is able to enact the Harkin overtime guarantee, we expect the Administration to claim that its overtime plan benefits workers. However, if the Administration truly intended to help workers and not take away their overtime rights, it could support the Harkin amendment

Congress let the federal unemployment benefits program (TEUC) expire for new enrollees on

December 22, 2003 . As a result, approximately 90,000 workers are exhausting their state benefits every week without a federal program to fall back on. The last TEUC recipients (those who qualified for 13 weeks of benefits immediately before the program expired in Decem ber) exhausted their benefits at the end of March 2004. From late December, when the federal program designed to help the long-term unemployed began phasing out, through the end of March, an estimated 1.1 million jobless workers will have exhausted their regular unemployment benefits without receiving additional aid. In no other comparable period on record have so many individuals exhausted their regular benefits and gone without additional aid. On February 4, 2004 , the House voted 227-179 for a straight 6-month extension of federal unemployment benefits modeled after the TEUC program, with 39 Republicans joining every Democrat in support of extension. On February 26, 2004 , the Senate voted 58 to 39 to extend the TEUC for six months, with 12 Republicans voting for extension. The Administration is trying to avoid responsibility for the expiration of unemployment benefits by claiming that it will work with Congress, but the lack of any direction from the White House is preventing a TEUC extension from being enacted.

Despite the fact that 40 million Americans say they would join a union, many will not get that chance because of intense employer interference in the exercise of this most basic workers’ right. According to a recent Cornell University study, ninety-five percent of private sector employers fight their workers’ efforts to organize a union – often breaking the law. Three-quarters of employers force workers to sit through closed-door meetings against the union.

Half illegally threaten to shut down if their workers choose a union, and a quarter illegally fire union supporters. Recognizing that the NLRB election process is broken, Senator Ted Kennedy and Representative George Miller introduced the Employee Free Choice Act (S. 1925/H.R. 3619) in November 2003. EFCA provides for automatic recognition of a union when a majority of employees in a unit have signed written authorization forms designating the union as their bargaining representative, a procedure known as "card check." Because workers are faced with almost insurmountable hurdles in achieving a first contract though collective bargaining, the bills would also provide for mandatory arbitration after 90 days if bargaining has been unsuccessful. In addition, the bill provides for new meaningful penalties when employers violate worker's rights to join a union. EFCA now has 178

U.S.

Representatives (including 6 Republicans) and 30

U.S.

Senators as co-sponsors. State Federations, CLCs and local union affiliates are encouraged to include EFCA in their candidate endorsements and urge members of congress not already signed on to co-sponsor.

Because of an adverse ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO), Congress must repeal a law helping

U.S.

exporters, known as the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) tax benefit. Under the ruling, the European Union began imposing tariffs on U.S.-made goods on March 1. There is general agreement that the FSC should be replaced with another tax benefit for

U.S.

companies, but there are major differences on what the new benefit should be. With more than 2.8 manufacturing jobs lost since President Bush took office, the AFL-CIO is working to make

sure that the new tax encourages and protects domestic manufacturing. H.R. 1769, a bipartisan bill supported by the AFL-CIO, would provide a greater tax credit for the production of goods in the

U.S.

For instance, a company that makes all of its goods in the

U.S.

would be eligible for the entire credit, while a company making only half of its goods in the

U.S.

would receive only half of the credit for which it is eligible. However, competing proposals, H.R. 2896 and S. 1637, both include billions in new tax breaks for the offshore operations of manufacturers, which will provide further incentives to shift production abroad. The AFL-CIO opposes the offshore tax break provisions in H.R. 2896 and S. 1637 and is working to ensure that the domestic credit goes mostly to companies that manufacture exclusively in the

United States

. The bill was pending on the Senate floor as of April 8, and action in the House of Representatives is possible after the Senate completes its work on the bill.

Just before adjourning for the April recess, the House and Senate agreed to legislation (H.R. 3108) that addressed the funding of defined benefit pension plans. The bill that came out of the House-Senate conference committee will allow employers to use a slightly higher interest rate to calculate the amount of money they contribute to their pension plans. The new rate would be in effect for two years, retroactive to January 1, 2004 . The bill also includes temporary provisions to help airlines, steel companies and certain other employers with pension funding pressure resulting from falling stock prices and historically low interest rates. However, the

conference agreement did not contain parallel pension funding relief for their multi-employer pension plans that are most common in the building and construction trades. The AFL-CIO did not take a position on the conference report.

On April 1st, the Senate voted to halt action on the Personal Responsibility and Individual Development for Everyone (PRIDE Act), a bill to reauthorize the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program for five years, on a 51 to 47 vote. Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA) was the only senator to cross party lines. A few days earlier the Senate approved a bipartisan amendment, over White House objections, to provide an additional $6 billion for child care programs funded through the TANF grant. The vote was 78-20. While the AFL-CIO supported the child-care amendment, we opposed further action on the bill because the Republican Leadership

refused to provide assurances that the bill’s many flaws would be addressed. In addition, Republicans refused to allow Senator Kennedy an opportunity to offer his amendment to increase the minimum wage from $5.25 to $7.00. Increasing the minimum wage would prevent the slide of more and more workers into poverty; it would also encourage less reliance on government-sponsored programs and greater independence. The AFL-CIO also sought

support for amendments to encourage TANF recipients to pursue enhanced work opportunities through education and training programs, and an amendment offered by Sen. Corizine to prohibit the use of federal funds for the outsourcing of TANF services. Finally, we are concerned about a provision -- know as the “super waiver” -- that would allow states to block grant and consolidate funding originally dedicated to TANF across three programs (TANF, Child Care Development Fund and Social Services Block Grant). The original 1996 TANF law provided funding through FY 2002, and has been extended s even times. The latest extension (S. 2231) runs through June 30, 2004 .

As a member of the U.S. House Select Committee on Homeland Security, I have continued to push for increased funding for terrorism preparedness for counties and municipalities, which have been shortchanged in the past.

The Department of Homeland Security has had its first anniversary, but we are far from where we must be. President Bush has not kept his promise to prioritize our security as illustrated in his recent budget request for homeland security.

To highlight these concerns, I wrote an op-ed that was published today in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and I have attached it for your information. You may also view the op-ed by clicking the link below.

I will continue to fight for more homeland security funding for our municipal and county governments. We simply can and must do better to protect our citizens, and we need to get the resources in the hands of those who have frontline responsibilities.

If you have suggestions on how we may improve this online publication or have information you would like to see posted please contact our communications director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.

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