04/20/04
E
Messenger
The Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 700
Year to date: 49,737
BUSH
GIVES WORKERS THE SHAFT IMPLEMENTS NEW OVERTIME RULES
THIS
JUST IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today is a tragic day, although you wouldn't know
it from reading your newspaper. Last night after most offices in
Washington
closed, the Bush administration announced it would finalize and issue
the regulations to take away overtime pay from millions of
America
's workers. Now, the White House spin machine is working
overtime to make this paycheck attack sound like a good thing for
workers.
Don't be
fooled! George W. Bush is now the first president in
U.S.
history to rewrite the overtime eligibility rules to take away workers'
overtime pay.
He needs to feel the heat! Please
act today: Send a letter to President Bush now by clicking on the link
below. We'll deliver your letter via fax with a copy to your
U.S.
senators. Tell Bush what you think. Or, keep reading.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stopbush4otpay/
Already the Bush administration is feeling
pressure. So they've launched an aggressive campaign to mislead the
media and the American people about the overtime pay take-away.
Ignoring the protests of millions of working
families and defying the wishes of Congress, President Bush moved
forward with this pay cut.
In its own words, the Bush administration has said
that only workers earning less than $23,660 a year would be
guaranteed the right to overtime pay. Everybody earning more than
that amount could be caught up in the range of other changes to
eligibility rules that take away overtime pay. And workers earning less
than that amount won't exactly be helped--many of them already get
overtime pay!
We've got to make our voices heard now to
counter these misleading statements, which are bombarding media
coverage. Here are two things you can do today to make a difference.
1. Fax President Bush and your senators by
clicking on the link below. The U.S. Senate could still act to
protect overtime pay.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stopbush4otpay/
2. After you
act, please tell your friends, family and co-workers what is going on
by forwarding this e-mail.
Even if you don't get overtime pay already, you
can help. Do you know somebody who earns overtime pay? It is important
that more people know President Bush might cut their paychecks. Please
click on the link below to spread the word to your friends, family and
co-workers.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stopbush4otpay/forward/
Thanks for all you do. Look for more soon,
including a review of the final changes and how they might affect you.
In Solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist Network, AFL-CIO
April 20, 2004
P.S. Don't
forget: You can still contribute to fund TV ads to save overtime pay.
Articles
on Overtime
Bush
revising overtime rules
CNN
4/20/2004
Rules
May Make More Eligible For Overtime; And Many
Lose It
Associated Press
4/20/2004
White
House Raises Limit for Overtime Pay
Los Angeles
Times
4/20/2004
GOP:
Labor rules would make more eligible for overtime
(04/20/2004 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
WASHINGTON --
Retreating under pressure, the Bush administration intends to revise a
proposed overtime regulation to preserve eligibility for most
white-collar workers making up to $100,000 a year as well as for police,
firefighters and other first responders, Republican officials said
Monday.
AP:
Bush Administration to Revise OT Plan
(04/19/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON -
Retreating under pressure, the Bush administration intends to revise a
proposed overtime regulation to preserve eligibility for most
white-collar workers making up to $100,000 a year as well as for police,
firefighters and other first responders, Republican officials said
Monday.
AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney’s Response
Statement
by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
On Bush Administration's Final Rule to Eliminate Overtime Protection
For
America
's Workers
April 20, 2004
Ignoring the protests of millions of American families and defying
the wishes of Congress, the Bush Administration has pressed forward with
new overtime regulations that will eliminate the right to overtime pay
for many hardworking Americans. The
Bush Administration staunchly opposed legislation which would preserve
overtime pay for all workers and instead pressed forward with
eliminating overtime pay for a huge swath of middle-class workers - many
who make as little as $23,600 a year.
The
Bush overtime changes will take money directly out of the pockets of
workers and put it into the hands of the President's corporate campaign
contributors. This has to
be one of the biggest pay cuts in American history--special delivery to
American workers straight from the White House.
It is a huge windfall for large corporations.
Last year both the House and the Senate voted for legislation to
prohibit overtime cuts, but the White House strong-armed Congress to
keep this overtime guarantee from becoming law.
The Administration has also ignored a tremendous outcry from
millions of workers who sent many millions of e-mails, faxes and
petitions urging Bush not to eliminate their right to overtime pay.
President Bush claims that his overtime plan will have "no
impact" on American workers and will preserve overtime pay for such
workers as firefighters and nurses, but the president has a credibility
gap when it comes to overtime. Over
the past year, in promoting its plan to eliminate overtime rights for 8
million workers, the Bush Administration has left an appalling trail of
misstatements, evasions, half-truths, and outright falsifications that
destroy any credibility they might have as defenders of workers'
overtime pay. If the
Administration really believes that workers will not lose their right to
overtime pay under its proposal, it should support pending legislation
in Congress that would guarantee workers' overtime rights and repeal any
part of the regulation that cuts overtime.
Workers need a binding overtime guarantee, enacted into law, not
empty promises from an Administration that doesn't care about workers.
It's not enough that President Bush has been AWOL on jobs during
his entire presidency, during which the country has lost nearly 3
million private sector jobs and long-term unemployment has reached
record highs. Now, the new
regulation will further discourage job growth.
Allowing businesses to stop paying for overtime will only
encourage them to overwork their existing employees and refrain from
hiring new workers.
Americans should demand immediate repeal of any part of the
President's plan that cuts overtime pay.
Watch
“The Apprentice?” – WATCH THIS ONE!
FROM
TRUEMAJORITY.ORG
The Apprentice: Guest Starring George W. Bush
STATE NEWS
John Kerry
brings campaign to
Florida
Kerry
focuses on economy at local rally
(04/20/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
By Brian Crowley
and George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers Tuesday, April 20,
2004 Even a problem with his microphone became an opportunity for John
Kerry to bash the Bush White House Monday as the Massachusetts senator
was cheered on by hundreds of supporters at Palm Beach Community
College.
Floridians
tell Kerry of their job, economic fears
(04/19/2004 © Bradenton
Herald)
LAKE WORTH
,
Fla.
- Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry on Monday blamed President Bush for
allowing too many middle-class American families to become trapped by
declining incomes and soaring bills.
Ker
? ry, Ker
? ry, Ker ? ry?
(
04/20/2004
© Boca
Raton News)
Presumed
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry laid it on the line in
Lake Worth
Monday. 'I have a plan
? 10 million jobs in four years,' he told a rally on the campus
of
Palm Beach
Community College
. 'I will work for
mainstream Americans,' said the
Massachusetts
senator who's been stumpin...
Kerry
seizes on oil allegation
(04/20/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
LAKE WORTH -
John Kerry lambasted as "outrageous and inexcusable" a
reported deal between the White House and Saudi Arabia to lower fuel
prices before the November election. Campaigning Monday in
Palm Beach
County
, Kerry jumped on the
alleged promise from
Saudi Arabia
The
officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said revisions also
would guarantee overtime for l
Kerry
grilled on TV about past comments
(04/19/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
MIRAMAR --
Launching an intensive three-day campaign in this state he hopes to
wrest from President Bush in November, Democrat John Kerry forcefully
criticized the president Sunday but was forced to defend his own record
as well. "George Bush has no record to run on," Kerry said
Sunday in an hourlong appearance on NBC's
Meet the Press broadcast from a suburban
Miami
television studio.
Kerry
s wife campaigns in Duval
(
04/20/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
A different kind
of presidential campaign sticker was pressed on lapels of
Jacksonville
area Democrats on
Monday. With their candidate spending the day elsewhere, local Democrats
wore stickers with "Teresa Heinz Kerry for First Lady" during
her visit to the
Duval
County
party headquarters.
Kerry
Backers Hope Fundraising Record Falls
(04/20/2004 © Tampa
Tribune)
TAMPA - John
Kerry supporters hope to raise close to $500,000 today during the
presidential challenger's visit to Tampa - an amount state and local
Democrats say would be a regional record for a single event by any
member of their party.
THE BUDGET THE BUDGET
THE BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGE
Legislative
leaders sneak policy into budget
(
04/19/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- There's more than
money at stake as
Florida
lawmakers secret
themselves away in state budget negotiations. Fundamental policy
questions - such as who will oversee the state's private prisons - also
are on the table.
Taxpayers
pay when costs shift
(
04/19/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
The governor's
budget this year has more than $90 million in new recurring revenue.
Unfortunately, the source of this new money is drawn from the checkbooks
of county property taxpayers. Counties will simply write a blank check
to the state.
Editorial:
Legislature turning back on libraries
(
04/19/2004
© Ft.
Pierce Tribune)
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. Prime examples are current measures dealing with
libraries.
Medical
programs may be cut by Legislature to save funds
(04/19/2004 © Jacksonville
Business Journal)
JACKSONVILLE --
State legislators bent on curbing use of one-time windfalls to fund
recurring government expenses will decide the future of health coverage
for thousands of low-income Floridians over the next two weeks.
GOP
squabbles over tax-cut rules
(
04/18/2004
© Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON
- A Republican fight
over proposed restrictions on tax cuts has hamstrung congressional
approval of next year's $2.4 trillion budget. It's a battle between
President Bush's cherished tax reductions and deficit worries.
Simply
put, state needs to diversify
(
04/18/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- "It does help
to have more money, doesn't it?" Sen. Dan Webster made that
observation last week -- and Darrell Kelley, chief of
Enterprise
Florida
, was soaking it in. Kelley,
whose
Orlando
agency
oversees the state's economic development, needs money.
Webster has some.
Budget
negotiators approve enticements for Electronic Arts
(04/19/2004 © Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. -- House and Senate budget negotiators approved a key part of a
financial package aimed at enticing the nation's largest video-game
maker to expand in central Florida. Lawmakers on Sunday night said at
least $4.2 million would be available to launch a specialized program
Everyone hates taxes right? Everyone
would want a holiday from sales taxes, especially on critical items like
school supplies and kids’ clothing right?
This would be good for working families
right? Well…no.
The sales tax holiday gimmick has been with us for quite some
time and we have talked about it often in the pages of this newsletter.
Yes, the sales tax holiday saves individual families pennies each
year but it costs our public schools millions.
Florida
’s families benefit
more from a fully funded education system for their kids than they do
from a $3.00 savings on the cost of a jacket.
Sales-tax
holiday may ring registers
(
04/20/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Haley Stewart may
be only 5, but she loves to shop. And her fledgling sense of fashion
isn't cheap. Haley's mother, Lisa Stewart, said she spends hundreds of
dollars before the start of the school year on clothes for Haley and her
8-year-old brother, Stevie.
Lawmakers
wheel-deal as elections near
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - As
Florida legislative leaders grapple with last-minute, high-stakes
negotiations in the last two weeks of their yearly session, the most
important date on their calendar is not April 30, the day they adjourn.
It's Nov. 2 -- Election Day. Every priority piece of legislation will
have a political calculation to it: Will it help the president in
Florida
?
State
Workers under the gun….again….well for the 6th year in a
row
Hope
fades for state pay raises
(04/19/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Leon County
legislators held out little hope Sunday for salvaging pay raises, rather
than one-time bonuses, for most state employees. As House and Senate
budget conferees swapped spending proposals on education, judicial
operations, health care and social services, Tallahassee-area lawmakers
also said Gov. Jeb Bush's plan for a two-tier system of health insurance
benefits is sure to pass.
Employees
leery of newer pension plan
(
04/19/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
The idea of
betting their pensions on the vicissitudes of the market still seems
troubling for members of the Florida Retirement System.
FCAT
scores in…show improvement…does it matter?
Is the FCAT a
bona-fide educational tool or merely a political gimmick designed to
give cover for the dismantling of our public school system through
vouchers? Scores are
up…but what does that mean?
State
sees gradual rise in FCAT scores, but some students face scramble
(
04/20/2004
© Bradenton
Herald)
MIAMI
- Elementary school
students showed gradual improvement this year on the oft-maligned
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, while 14,000 high school seniors
haven't yet passed the critical exam and face a desperate scramble to
obtain their diplomas, state officials said Monday.
Third-grade
FCAT scores up in county
(
04/20/2004
© Gainesville
Sun)
Third-grade
parents likely are to receive their children's individual scores this
week. fifth of third-graders in
Alachua
County
and statewide may have
to repeat the grade based on their scores on the state's standardized
reading test, according to data released Monday.
At
Least 544 Polk Seniors Fail FCAT
(
04/20/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
At Least 544
Polk Seniors Fail FCAT Those students will not graduate with the rest of
their class next month. By Julia Crouse The
Ledger julia.crouse@theledger.com
LAKELAND
-- More than 500 Polk
high school seniors could have uncertain futures -- possibly without a
high school diploma.
Broward
FCAT reading scores OK, math better
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
When Sunland
Park Elementary's principal looked at his
school's soaring third-grade FCAT scores Monday morning, Martin Reid had
just three explanations: ``God, teacher dedication and student
determination.'' Across
Broward
County
, more principals than
not celebrated Monday, as third-grade scores on the Florida
Comprehensive Assessment Test reached their highest levels yet.
FCAT
scores inch up
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
The progress is
coming in baby steps rather than long jumps, but third-graders in South
Florida and across the state continued to improve their scores on the
state's standardized test, according to results unveiled Monday.
In
the right direction
(
04/20/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Gradually but
significantly, the percentage of third-graders who can read and
understand math at grade level is edging up. Equally important, the
percentage who may have to repeat third grade
is going down.
FCAT
scores mildly improving
(04/19/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
Third-graders
did a little better on FCAT reading this year, but about 10 percent of
Florida's high school seniors are still struggling to pass the exam that
will earn them a standard diploma, state officials said Monday.
Education
Charter
may be sole choice
(04/20/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
KISSIMMEE --
More than 300 public school students in Osceola County could be ordered
tonight to attend a new charter school scheduled to open in August. The Bellalago
charter school is Osceola's latest approach to using charter schools to
relieve crowding. But the move has left parents and charter school
advocates wondering: What happened to school choice?
Two
virtual schools to split $3.8 million in state money
(04/20/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE --
Two for-profit virtual schools will split $3.8 million in state money
next year, despite Senate President Jim King's guarantee the
controversial programs would not receive tax dollars.
Schools
likely to get about 4.5 percent boost in money
(04/19/2004 © Stuart
News)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla.- Public school funding will receive a modest boost in the $57
billion state budget lawmakers are trying to agree upon, in part because
of the allocation toward class-size reduction.
Pre-K
in peril
(
04/20/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
The Legislature
appears ready to betray voters who sent a clear mandate for
Florida
to offer a free and
high-quality, pre-kindergarten program for
Florida
's 4-year-olds. The
likely outcome of legislation in progress to fulfill the intent of this
constitutional amendment is so lackluster, however, that some backers
now wonder if the state should bother implementing it at all this year.
Michelle
Singletary: Student-loan repayment may grow more difficult
(
04/20/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
If you have a
student loan, there's a debate in Congress you should be following. On
the legislative table is a proposal to change the interest rate on
consolidated federal student loans from fixed to variable.
Editorial:
Pre-K plan needs work
(
04/19/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
Summer day care
cannot prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten. Parents in
Palm Beach
and Martin counties
may get to witness the failure firsthand.
The “Dirty Byrd”
strikes again
Byrd
campaigns as House toils
(04/20/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
While House and Senate negotiators worked on details of Florida's $57
billion budget Monday, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd was about a 1,000
miles away in New York City raising cash for his own political future.
Byrd
absence slows final, frantic work
(04/20/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE -
While legislators worked over the weekend and through the day Monday to
reach agreement on the state's $56-billion budget, House Speaker Johnnie
Byrd was off to New York to raise money for his U.S. Senate campaign.
The House canceled a session that had been scheduled for Monday, an
action likely to send the Senate into weekend sessions this week to
handle late-arriving bills.
All Constitutional
Ballot Initiatives are not created equal
Wage
issue may be poll magnet
(
04/19/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- Denise Hylton
collects signatures, and that makes her very unpopular around
Florida
's capital these days.
The
Tampa
health care worker and
mother of seven is a board member of ACORN, a nationwide advocacy group
for low- and moderate-income people.
Property
tax dodge
(
04/19/2004
© Florida
Today)
Who wouldn't
like to save up to $500 a year in property taxes? That's what a proposed
amendment to the state Constitution would do for Floridians who file for
a Homestead Exemption on their residence. But as the old saying goes, if
it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Woman
vocal against malpractice cap
(
04/19/2004
© Miami
Herald)
Laura Broder
walked into
Jackson
Memorial
Hospital
for what was to have
been a routine heart procedure. She left in a wheelchair, brain damaged
and unable to move most of her left side because of a stroke. She was
21. Today, after 2 ˝ years of physical therapy, the former cheerleader
can walk again, but with a pronounced limp.
Editorial:
Tax tricks
(
04/19/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
Thousands of
Floridians are falling for one of the oldest sucker tricks: 'Sign here
to cut your taxes.' The con game this time is a voter initiative to
double the $25,000 property tax assessment exemption for people who own
and occupy their homes.
Workers’ Comp
Senate
ponders workers comp fund for small firms
(04/19/2004 © Jacksonville
Business Journal)
The Legislature
is considering creation of a non-profit state fund that would write
workers' compensation policies for small businesses that are having
difficulty obtaining coverage.
Other legislative news
Column:
Pull the string, PSC will sing you a song ...
(04/20/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
In case you
didn't see the front-page article written by our reporter Louis Hau
on Saturday about the Florida Public Service Commission, I wish you
would dig up the paper and read it now. It turns out that Verizon
Communications wrote, word for word, the position of PSC member Rudy
Bradley
Lawmaker
to take lobbying post
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
State Rep. Manny Prieguez announced Monday
he will resign shortly after the conclusion of this year's legislative
session, creating a rare open Miami-Dade House seat for the upcoming
fall election.
Plan
to give doctors immunity for misread mammograms fades
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Supporters of an effort to give radiologists immunity from lawsuits for
misreading mammograms retreated from the idea Monday in the face of
Senate opposition, and instead backed a bill to study how accessible the
breast cancer tests are.
School
spending formulas, nursing home staff among pending issues
(04/18/2004 © Bradenton
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - House and Senate budget negotiators said Sunday they've decided
not to deal with two sticky issues in education, leaving questions about
how school money is divided among counties for the chambers' leadership
to answer.
TOM
LEE: Next Senate president
(
04/19/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
One time, it was
as basic as beer bottles. Big beer distributors for years kept beers
from microbreweries and foreign competitors out of
Florida
through a law
restricting bottle sizes. It didn't seem fair to Republican Sen. Tom
Lee.
Legislature
2004: Final weeks promise frenzied pace
(04/19/2004 © Naples
Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE —
Two weeks remain in the scheduled 2004 legislative session and, true to
form, the major issues of the past 50 days remain unresolved. In a
session that may likely be known more for show than substance, lawmakers
nonetheless must address a handful of priorities if they hope to end the
session on time April 30.
Florida
Election 2004
Money
machines
(04/20/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
The District 2
race between U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd and his challenger, Republican State
Rep. Bev Kilmer, is one of the nation's few congressional races drawing
attention from Washington handicappers.
Kilmer,
Boyd rake in campaign cash for Congress race
(04/20/2004 © Northwest
Florida Daily News)
By KENDALL
MIDDLEMAS Florida Freedom Newspapers The race for Florida's 2 nd
Congressional District seat is shaping up to be a high-dollar affair,
and the candidates are citing fund-raising prowess as one of the
measures of the health of their campaigns.
Republican
party fund-raiser hoped to clear $10,000
(04/20/2004 © Englewood
Sun Herald)
Eight years ago
Jeb Bush was just a newcomer to the state's political scene, Bill
Clinton was ending his first White House term and the Republican Party
of Charlotte County was aching for a broad party changeover.
Miami-Dade
mayor brings Senate campaign to Panhandle
(
04/19/2004
© Jackson
County Floridan)
Miami-Dade
County Mayor Alex Penelas came to Marianna
Thursday campaigning for the U.S. Senate. As a Democratic candidate, he
spoke to customers at the Gazebo Restaurant, came to the offices of the
Jackson County Floridan, and met with a few
county officials.
Deutsch
looking to take Graham s seat in Senate
(
04/19/2004
© Panama
City News Herald)
It's not often
you hear a political candidate speak of things existential. U.S. Rep.
Peter Deutsch (DHollywood) has some thoughts
on the subject, however. 'Terrorists in terrorist states are the
greatest existential threat to the
United States of
America
,' Deutsch said to a
group
NATIONAL
NEWS
Election
2004
Frist
Funnels Cash to Daschle s Foe
(04/19/2004 © Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
WASHINGTON --
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.,
is relying on his fund-raising strength to try to oust his Democratic
rival - Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. Frist
has helped funnel more than $150,000 so far this year to Republican John
Thune, who is trying to unseat the three-term Daschle in what is
expected to be one of the most competitive Senate races.
Patriot
Act a Theme in Bush s Campaign
(04/20/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON -
Making the Patriot Act a theme in his bid to win a second term,
President Bush is decrying any proposed weakening of the law he calls
central to fighting terrorism. For the second day in a row, the
president on Tuesday is making a strong public defense of the Patriot
Act, this time in
Buffalo
,
N.Y.
, the site of recent
criminal cases against the Lackawanna Six.
Soft
money groups take in more than $25 million
(04/20/2004 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
WASHINGTON --
Political groups trying to help Democrats win back the White House have
raised more than $25 million this year despite complaints about their
activities from Republicans and campaign watchdogs.
Consider
This
American
troops in Iraq need more than our prayers
(
04/20/2004
© Ocala
Star Banner)
Plainly, the
news from
Iraq
in recent days,
including the spike in
U.S.
casualties, has been
bad, and it's likely to get worse in the months ahead. But so far the
war has done little to disturb business-as-usual on the home front.
In
Bush
America
…loss
of jobs is a good thing --- as long as CEO pay stays high
BUSH
BACKS OUTSOURCING TAX BREAK--The Bush administration is backing some $37
billion in tax breaks for U.S. firms that move offshore as part of
Senate legislation it is working hard to win. The Foreign Sales
Corporations tax bill, S. 1637, would replace a domestic tax break for
exporters found to be illegal by the World Trade Organization with a new
domestic tax benefit for manufacturing. While the manufacturing tax
benefit standing alone would create an incentive to keep and create jobs
in the
United States
, the new foreign tax
breaks in the bill will encourage companies to export more jobs. Sen.
Ernest Hollings(D-S.C.) will offer an
amendment to strip out the $37 billion in new foreign tax breaks when
the Senate takes up the bill late this month or in early May.
PAYWATCH
CITES DERELICT DIRECTORS--On tax day, April 15, the AFL-CIO's Executive PayWatch
website began profiling derelict corporate directors who gave CEOs huge
pay packages regardless of their performance. Today, the average
corporate CEO's pay package is 301 times bigger than the average
worker's paycheck. The website (http://www.aflcio.org/paywatch
), which also tracks trends in CEO compensation, urges stockholders to
vote "no" on the election of derelict directors and to demand
companies be required to expense CEO stock options in their financial
reporting.
I
Think Every Company Doing This Is Outrageous'
KOMO-TV (ABC-Seattle) -
4/15/2004
Wal-Mart
Watch
Wal-Mart,
a Nation Unto Itself
The New York Times -
4/17/2004
Jackson
chimes in against Wal-Mart
Chicago
Tribune
4/20/2004
WOW!
The Gap gets some religion
Gap
Inc. agrees to union factory
San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com) -
4/20/2004
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.
SUBSCRIBE
Union members may subscribe to the E Messenger by visiting our
website at www.flaflcio.org.
UNSUBSCRIBE
If you would not like to receive future copies of this newsletter
please let us know at cbell@flaflcio.org.
Rich Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO
