04/27/04
E Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 4,505
Year to date: 54,241
Worker’s
Memorial Day – Tomorrow
MARKING WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY--Thousands of union
members and their allies worldwide will mark Workers Memorial Day, April
28, with rallies, candlelight vigils, interfaith services and marches.
Activists plan to expose the Bush administration's abysmal record on
worker safety, which includes killing workplace ergonomics protections,
withdrawing all new workplace safety and health rules and moving to slash
the federal job safety budget. The International Labor Organization, an
arm of the United Nations, plans to release a report showing that work
kills more people than wars, with 2 million worker deaths a year, many of
them preventable. "The Bush administration has turned its back on
American workers and workplace safety," said Sen. John Kerry
(D-Mass.). "It's time--and past time--that the federal government
enforced the right of every American to a safe, healthful workplace."
For more information and to download materials, click on http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/safety/memorial/index.cfm
.
Unfortunately, all of our
hands are in the trenches for the wrap-up of the legislative session and
Labor 2004 so the
Florida
AFL-CIO will not be hosting any
events this year. However, we
will bring you all of the news from around the country in a special
“Workers’ Memorial Day” edition of the E Messenger on Thursday.
IN THE MEANTIME….
YOU
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY!
|
Decades of struggles by workers
and their unions have made workplaces safer. But the
fight to protect workers is getting more difficult. The
Bush administration has joined with business groups to
roll back and block key worker protections--taking
America
in the wrong direction. In fact, the Bush
administration has the worst record on safety rules in
the entire history of Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), the federal workplace safety
agency.
Please take one minute right now
to take action by clicking
on the link below or keep reading for more
information.http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/april282004/
Here are the facts about Bush's
record on workplace safety.
- Bush
killed workplace ergonomic protections. On
March
20, 2001
,
President Bush signed legislation repealing the
ergonomics standards designed to protect workers
from repetitive motion and back injuries.
- He
rolled back or blocked dozens of workplace safety
and health rules.
In December 2001, the Bush administration announced
the withdrawal of 29 rules that would have protected
workers from serious hazards at work.
- Bush
administration favors employers over workers.
The administration's fiscal year 2005 OSHA budget
proposed cutting safety training programs for
workers by 65 percent, while increasing funding for
employer programs.
This week, on April 28, we observe
Workers Memorial Day-a day to remember the millions of
America
's workers who are killed, maimed or injured on the job
every year. Each year more than 60,000 workers die
from job injuries and illnesses and another 6 million
are injured. But President Bush is taking
America
down a path that would lead to more injuries and more
deaths on the job.
You
can make a difference on this issue by taking action.
Please click on the link below to send a message to
President Bush letting him know how you feel about his
actions that put us all at risk.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/april282004/
After you act, please forward this
message to your friends, family and co-workers or click
on the link below to send them a note.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/april282004/forward/
Thanks for all you do to make
America
work for working families.
In Solidarity,
Working Families e-Activist
Network, AFL-CIO
April 27, 2004
|
|
News on SEIU job action
in
Hollywood
Angry over pay, insurance costs, employees
picket nursing home
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
hsampson@herald.com
Pauline Livingston loves her job as a certified nursing assistant.
The single mother just doesn't like the fact that she cannot afford to buy
health insurance for herself and her three children. ''They appreciate
what I do, but they don't want to give us what we deserve,'' said
Livingston
,
of Miami-Dade. ``I'm a good worker. Give me what I deserve.''
Livingston
,
38, picketed with about 80 people Wednesday outside the place she has
worked for eight years, Hillcrest Nursing and
Rehabilitation
Center
in
Hollywood
.
Healthcare workers were protesting low pay, no raises in two years
and high insurance costs at the facility, one of 14 in the state operated
by Tampa-based Sea Crest Health Care Management. Employees at the 14
locations voted to reject a contract that was Sea Crest's final offer
after two years of bargaining, said Monica Russo, president of Service
Employees International Union Local 1199
Florida
.
Russo
said workers at nursing homes in
Kissimmee
and
St.
Cloud
went on strike over the weekend and employees at a facility in
Orlando
will strike May 1. Workers in
Hollywood
may strike as well. On
Wednesday, workers picketed in their scrubs, some holding signs that said
''Honk for healthcare,'' Russo said.
Representatives with Sea Crest could not be reached for comment.
Lilleth Thomas, 66, of
Miami
,
has been working at Hillcrest for 14 years. She said this round of
contract negotiations is worse than any other in her tenure.
''I feel that what we did today, it was necessary,'' said Thomas, a
certified nursing assistant. ``And if it has to go further, we are going
to go.''
SEIU
Members Conduct One-Day Strikes At
Florida
Nursing Homes; Other Strikes Set
TAMPA
,
Fla.
--Members
of the Service Employees International Union conducted one-day strikes
April 17 and 18 at two central
Florida
nursing homes, as the Miami-based local union sought to protest stalled
negotiations toward first-contract agreements with the company that
manages the facilities.
Officials
with SEIU 1199
Florida
said the strikes and picketing at
Plantation
Bay
Rehabilitation
Center
in
St.
Cloud
and at Donegan Rehabilitation and
Health
Center
in
Kissimmee
would be followed by strikes at other nursing homes also managed by Sea
Crest Health Care Management LLC.
SEIU
officials had notified Sea Crest that employees would strike at 12 of some
60
facilities
Sea
Crest manages in the state after talks to reach first contracts at 12
nursing homes represented by the union stalled. Employees had voted to
strike after unanimously rejecting a management final offer that included
annual pay increases of 3 percent over three years. The union has asked
for 12 percent increases over term for the approximately 1,000 workers at
the 12 facilities (67 DLR A-12,
4/8/04
).
Monica
Russo, SEIU 1199
Florida
's
president, told BNA the strikes took place after the Federal Mediation and
Conciliation Service called the two sides to the bargaining table April
15. No progress on the contracts was made, however, and no additional meeting
are planned, she said.
Strikes
against additional Sea Crest facilities would continue, Russo said, with
one planned for May 1 in
Orlando
.
The union also intends to send the Tampa-based company at least two
additional 10-day strike notices as required for health care facilities
under Section 10(g) of the National Labor Relations Act, she said.
Russo
and other SEIU officials declined to say whether additional strikes would
be for a single day. Nationally, the union has used short-term strikes as
a tactic in other actions against nursing homes (39 DLR A-2,
3/1/04
).
Some
Residents Join Picketers
In
the one-day strikes at the two facilities, as many as 90 percent of
bargaining unit members honored the strike and stayed out of work, Russo
said. Some residents at the facilities came out in wheelchairs with family
members and joined the picketers, she added.
"Our
intention was to kick off a wave of rolling strikes at Sea Crest nursing
homes across the state, and I'd say we kicked off with a tremendous
bang," Russo told BNA from
Miami
.
"We exceeded our expectations in terms of worker participation in the
first two strikes."
Sea
Crest officials did not return telephone calls for comment.
The
company called in temporary workers to staff for the facilities during the
strikes, Russo said, adding that bargaining unit members did not attempt
to prevent those workers from crossing the picket lines.
"The
objective was not to 'stop production.' The objective was to send a
message," Russo said. "We'll continue to escalate the momentum
from the weekend. It's only just begun."
STATE NEWS
THE
BUDGET – IT ALL COMES DOWN TO EDUCATION FUNDING
Clash
over school money may extend session
(
04/27/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE
-- An on-time end to this spring's legislative session is imperiled by the
collapse Monday of an apparent secret deal between the two presiding
officers regarding a schools funding formula.
School
money provokes political battle
(04/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
Weeks
of election-year harmony among Florida's Republican-led Legislature
threatened to fall apart Monday after hitting two huge snags: the
political clout of South Florida and the unpredictability of House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd.
School
spending formula divides legislative leaders
(04/26/2004 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE
-- With the end of the legislative session looming Friday, Florida House
and Senate leaders became deadlocked Monday in a budget battle over how to
divvy up tax dollars among the state's school districts.
House:
We ve got a budget deal, but Senate says, Oh
no we don t
(04/26/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Negotiations on the state's approximate $57 billion budget continued
Monday, yet Senate President Jim King assured members of his chamber that
a deal would be reached in time for lawmakers to vote on it before
Friday's scheduled end of the session.
Major
issues still pending
(04/26/2004 © Florida
Today)
TALLAHASSEE
-- More than $1 million extra for Brevard County schools, and a $2 million
bill to the county to house juvenile offenders, hang in the balance
between House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and Senate President Jim King as they
cut the final deals of the 2004 legislative session.
Broward,
Miami-Dade nervous as legislators debate millions in education cuts
(04/26/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
Legislative leaders worked Sunday to wrap up the loose ends of a $57
billion budget, including the fate of a cost-of-living formula that means
millions of dollars to school districts.
Senate
working on ideas to soften blow to Miami schools
(04/25/2004 © Ft.
Pierce Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla.- Legislative leaders worked Sunday to wrap up the loose ends of a
$56.5 billion budget but didn't settle the fate of a cost-of-living
formula that means millions of dollars to school districts.
Legislature
2004: Its all still on the table
(04/26/2004 © Naples
Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE
— Lawmakers arrived 55 days ago with a slate of local and state
priorities that remain largely unfulfilled as they enter the final week of
their scheduled legislative session. And that is not particularly unusual.
In typical fashion, lawmakers have largely left the heavy lifting for the
next five days as they attempt to wind up their work by Friday.
Budget
stalls on region s windfall
(04/26/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Florida's ruling Republicans had their first public breakdown Sunday
night in an election-year legislative session in which they have worked
hard to get along. House and Senate budget talks abruptly collapsed when
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd refused to sign off on a Senate-backed plan to
overhaul the state's school-funding formula.
Editorial:
Sort out the agendas as session winds down
(
04/26/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
With
one week left, state legislators are on track to achieve their key goal:
finish on time, and don't leave any business for a special session. It's
an election year, and the public hammered them in 2003 for going back four
times to
Tallahassee
.
Budget
talks are abruptly cut off
(04/26/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
After
apparent agreements on $10 million for a world-renowned lab at Florida
State University, a $1,000 bonus for most state employees and helping
Tallahassee clean up Cascades Park, legislative negotiations over next
year's state budget screeched to a stop Sunday night.
State
Workers caught in the political shuffle – what else is new?
Ok,
catch this…yesterday Representative Will Kendrick (D- District 10, lots
of state workers) offered an amendment to a tax cut bill that would set
aside tax dollars for state employee raises, the only way they are going
to get any the year. Enter
Representative Bev Kilmer (R-District 7, lots of state workers, Jeb’s
main go to gal) who spoke passionately against the amendment.
Well after her passionate pleas to the Republican majority to screw
over state workers and defeat the amendment, she voted for it!
That way, she can please her Republican buddies but claim that her
record shows she supports state workers.
Oh, in case you did not know, she is running for Congress to
represent
Tallahassee
and the surrounding areas which, you guessed it,
has lots of state workers. Sheesh!
Politics
may cause split on state workers
(
04/26/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
Before
the legislative session is quelled, state employees will hear a lot about
their salaries and insurance. These were among budget items that House and
Senate budget negotiators "bumped up" to the appropriations
chairmen.
New
kind of state contract raises concerns
(04/25/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Daryl
Robledo and Joseph Wilke
keep their eyes glued to the screen as they huddle over a blip on one of
the many computer monitors in front of them. Stationed in the
hurricane-proof bunker that houses the state computer center, Robledo
and Wilke make sure information flows freely
among
Kilmer
caught in political game
(04/27/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
In
a unique bit of political game-playing, House Democrats tried Monday to
make state Rep. Bev Kilmer choose between giving shoppers a sales-tax
break next summer and supporting pay raises for state workers who will
vote heavily in her race for Congress. So Kilmer, R-Quincy, wound up
arguing against a legislative proposal - then voting for it.
Other legislative
nonsense…we mean news (lots of it too)
Capitol
offenses
(
04/27/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
Senate
President Jim King reminded his colleagues Monday that this is the week
when time is not their friend. That warning goes double for the entire
state of
Florida
.
With only four days left in the Legislature's regular session, the
temptation to settle for bad deals and enact bad bills can seem
irresistible.
Risky
political bet with O.P.M.
(
04/26/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
All
I know about public finance stems from a conversation with the finance
manager of
Henderson
,
Ky.
,
when I was a cub reporter. It may not be sophisticated, but it's
sound. In the early 1960s, I found him in the city hall, working late over
his pre-computer ledger, and asked what was up.
Nursing
home cuts planned
(04/26/2004 © Ocala
Star Banner)
TALLAHASSEE
- Nursing homes around Florida will face a 5 percent cut in how much
they're reimbursed to treat Medicaid patients this coming year,
legislative leaders decided Saturday night.
Byrd
eases death penalty stand
(04/27/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
In what could be a breakthrough, Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd said
Monday he is leaning toward letting House members "vote their
conscience'' on a measure to raise the minimum age for the death penalty
in Florida to 18.
Kids
summer lunch plan might miss out on funds
(04/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE
- (AP) -- Bills designed to feed more poor children summertime lunches
paid for by the federal government are stalled, and backers are concerned
the proposals won't be passed by Friday's scheduled end of this year's
legislative session.
Land
seized for private use possible
(
04/26/2004
© Ft.
Myers News-Press)
Floridas
constitution allows governments to take your land for a public purpose,
such as a road or school, as long as you receive a fair price. But
legislation which could be approved this week would allow a city or county
to take an individuals land, with fair compensation, and sell it
Lawmakers
Create Most Ballot Questions
(
04/26/2004
© Tampa
Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
- They argue that the process is out of control. That
citizens' initiatives are choking the state budget. That it's too
easy for the people to amend their constitution.
Florida
politicians have been making the case for constitutional amendment reform
ever since a handful of high- profile citizens' campaigns bypassed them in
the past few election cycles.
July
tax holiday on gas, clothing nearing approval
(
04/27/2004
© Bradenton
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE
- August 1 could be a good day to drive to a
Florida
shopping mall. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a combined
proposal to both give Floridians nine days of relief from the sales tax on
clothing and other back to school items for nine days ending Aug. 1, and
another to reduce the gas tax by a dime beginning that same day and
continuing through the entire month.
Citrus
cutters to get more power in canker battle
(04/27/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
The Legislature has granted state agriculture crews extra powers that will
make it easier for them to cut down trees exposed to the citrus canker
spreading in South Florida and other areas.
UM
still pushing Senate to limit medical liability
(04/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE
- With time running out and a mountain to climb, University of Miami
officials made a last-ditch appeal to Senate leaders Monday to pass a
House bill that would shield the university from liability when their
doctors treat patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Tallahassee
Ticker
(04/27/2004 © Miami
Herald)
House
votes to limit aid to foreign students From Herald Wire Services The House
on Monday voted overwhelmingly to prohibit foreign students from getting
certain types of financial aid at state public universities.
Health
insurance reform plan expected to pass Senate today
(04/27/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE
-- A wide-ranging plan aimed at lowering the soaring cost of health
insurance and the number of uninsured was given preliminary approval by
the state Senate Monday.
Inquiry
to view prisons hiring
(04/27/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- Gov. Jeb Bush asked his inspector general Monday to investigate whether
the state agency overseeing private prisons violated the law last year
when it hired his former corrections secretary as a consultant.
Florida
election 2004
A
tempered liberal woos rural vote
(04/26/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
GULF
BREEZE - As golfers strolled the greens outside, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch
told a crowd at a country club that he could feel 'the elephant in the
room.' Abortion. Gun
control. Gay rights. Deutsch supports all three.
Republicans
line up for state seat in 2006 election
(
04/26/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TARPON
SPRINGS - City Commissioner Peter Nehr is
thinking about moving onward and upward, but he's not leaving his City
Commission post anytime soon. Nehr, 51, said
this week he's considering a run for the seat now held by state Rep. Gus
Bilirakis,
R-Palm
Harbor
,
in 2006, when term limits will end Bilirakis' tenure in the Legislature.
There’s
a new caucus in town
House
Hispanics hope to build bloc on shared heritage
(04/26/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Across the nation, Republicans and Democrats are fighting over the
increasingly powerful Hispanic vote, but Hispanic lawmakers in the Florida
House instead are joining forces across party lines.
Hispanic
Florida lawmakers form caucus
(04/26/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - Hispanic lawmakers in the Florida House have joined forces across
party lines to address concerns on issues like education, language and
health. The newly formed Florida Hispanic Legislative Caucus includes
lawmakers from both parties, a formal legal structure and staff, and
reflects the state's growing Hispanic diversity.
Tax cuts in
Tallahassee
could leave you paying more at home
Plan
for state to fund courts done; counties doubt touted savings
(04/26/2004 © Ft.
Pierce Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
— Six years after voters ordered it, lawmakers this week will put the
finishing touches on plans to change the way Floridians pay for the court
system.
Getting
Revenge On the Locals
(
04/26/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
Getting
Revenge On the Locals The state Legislature is getting ready to exact a
little payback on county commissions. Lawmakers have been grumbling about
those impertinent locals ever since county commissions around the state
helped pass a
Florida
constitutional amendment several years ago that essentially requires the
state pay its fair share of the costs
