05/11/04
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 211
Year to date: 55,508
STATE
NEWS
THE
BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGET THE BUDGE
Michael
Peltier: Now the waiting game begins
(05/10/2004 © Naples
Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE —
Lawmakers who just more than a week ago approved a $58 billion state
budget must now await the actions of Gov. Jeb Bush, whose infamous veto
pen has laid waste to many a local project in his six years in office.
States
are beginning to see need for tax hikes
(
05/10/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
Once again,
states are setting an example for the federal government. This time, the
area is fiscal responsibility. Just as many states tackled education and
welfare reform before Washington, a number are recognizing that a
balanced approach to fiscal problems requires both spending cuts and
Jennings
hit comes in last legislative at-bat
(
05/11/2004
© Gainesville
Sun)
t was the bottom
of the ninth with two outs when State Rep. Ed
Jennings
, D-Gainesville, got
the home run he so desperately wanted.
Alachua
County
had been pushing a
bill through the Legislature that would enable it to use money from a
special recreation tax for operation and maintenance
State
again cuts funds to combat smoking
(05/11/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
TALLAHASSEE --
For the second year in a row, legislators have decided to fund Florida's
youth tobacco prevention program at the equivalent of 26 cents for each
of the state's 3.8 million residents younger than 18. Nearly lost in the
chaos at the Capitol, as legislators finished a $58 billion state
budget, was a $1 million allocation on
Florida
's anti-smoking
program.
Budget
benefits rural counties
(
05/11/2004
© Panama
City News Herald)
With more money
budgeted for infrastructure and economic development,
Florida
's rural counties could
get a larger piece of the pie in next year's $58 billion state budget.
'It's almost like an awakening for the government to realize the
importance of the rural counties,
More
session wrap-up
Power
plays shaped state s new laws
(05/10/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - It
was the last and most frantic day of the legislative session, and
Democrats and Republicans in the House paused to lament the early
retirement of Rep. Gaston Cantens of Miami.
Who
s effective?
(
05/10/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
State senators
are viewed as more deliberative, more thoughtful than their often
raucous, shoot-from-the-hip counterparts in the House of
Representatives. And
Central Florida
is blessed to have at
least two lawmakers who fit that mold. In fact, Sen. Lee Constantine is
so well-respected by his peers that he may be chosen to run the Senate
in 2008.
Amateurs
flock to Tallahassee
(
05/10/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
Like ancient
Greek thespians, lobbyists wore masks -- of the faces of sheep. House
Speaker Johnnie Byrd,
R-Plant
City
, played Achilles; he
sulked in his tent and refused to come out. This year's
Tallahassee
, though, owes less to
the cradle of democracy than to a low-grade anarchy virus
Farm
Bill Is Unnecessary And Unfair
(
05/10/2004
© Tampa
Tribune)
Lawmakers
pandering to agricultural interests would shred the state's growth
management laws and encourage high-density construction on farmland. In
the waning hours of the session, lawmakers passed a measure that seems
aimed more at helping developers than protecting farmers.
Pre-K
or no Pre-K
Editorial:
Gov. Bush should veto woeful pre-K measure
(
05/10/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
Voters asked for
'high quality' pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds in
Florida
. Gov. Bush promised to
deliver it. Now is his chance to prove his commitment. Lawmakers ignored
voters' demand, delivering to the governor legislation that provides so
few academic standards that preschool
Bush
set to sign statewide pre-K bill
(05/11/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Tallahassee Gov.
Jeb Bush said for the first time on Monday that he is leaning toward
signing legislation to create a statewide prekindergarten
program. Bush struggled with legislators over the program's structure
until a compromise bill passed in the session's final hours last month.
FCAT
news
FCAT
Snags Students With Disabilities
(
05/10/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
Third-graders
with disabilities fail the state's standardized reading test at twice
the rate of their nondisabled peers. In the
high-stakes world of testing in
Florida
public schools, that
unsurprising fact takes on greater significance:
FCAT:
Majority of children reading at or above grade level
(05/10/2004 © Bradenton
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - For the first time, more than half of the students who took the
Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test are reading at or above grade
level, Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday as he released this year's results.
Younger
students do best on FCAT
(05/11/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
Florida's
younger students improved their reading scores again this year, but
teens continued to struggle with the state's standardized tests, scores
released Monday show. Students in grades
three to seven
posted higher reading
scores on the 2004 Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
FCAT
shows racial divide slowly closing
(
05/11/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Brown v. Board
of Education was a huge symbolic victory in the civil-rights movement.
But as far as bridging the academic gap between black and white
students, it was a practical failure. School integration did not bring
equality in the classroom.
Some
never get the FCAT blues
(
05/11/2004
© Panama
City News Herald)
Well, here we go
again. The latest FCAT statistics were released about seniors who failed
and the tears that were shed ('County's seniors struggling with FCAT,'
April 28 news). What most people don't know is that there is a certain
population of students who can put the Kleenex
Elementary
students outshine the rest on Florida test scores
(05/11/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
Florida students
in most grades fared a little better on this year's FCAT, but middle and
high school students continue to lag far behind their elementary school
counterparts. Statewide, students in three grades had lower scores on
the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test results released Monday:
eighth- and 10th-graders in reading and sixth-graders in math.
Vouchers
and other education news
Tuition
relief remains elusive
(
05/10/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
PLANT
CITY
- Like other seniors
near graduation, Jaqueline Sanchez dreamed
of college. The student who scored A's and B's, excelled at art and
physics, and played a fierce game of volleyball longed to start classes
toward becoming an elementary school teacher.
EDUCATION:
Keeping schools
(
05/11/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
One legislator
thinks he has an idea that might help with the problem of public schools
that are too small to survive. Normandy Elementary in
Jacksonville
's Westside is one
school destined for the scrap heap.
Fix
voucher problems
(
05/11/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
Gov. Jeb Bush
speaks of
Florida
's school-voucher
program as a national model. But what other state would adopt a system
that invites fraud and abuse? Among the many bills that died in the
House without action this year was a carefully drawn package to plug
loopholes in voucher programs.
Alternative
school operator branching out
(05/11/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
ORLANDO If he
had not been a lawyer and later the chief executive officer of Community
Education Partners, Randle Richardson would have been a history teacher.
Richardson
peppers every
conversation with American trivia.
Do the
right thing Jeb, if not don’t have surgery in
Florida
Veto
Anesthesiology Bill
(
05/11/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
Veto
Anesthesiology Bill Legislators who helped pass a bill that licenses
anesthesiologist assistants did
Florida
's patients a
disservice. If the governor allows this bill to become law,
Florida
's surgical patients
will be put at risk because AAs do not have
the nursing or medical background that prepares them to act in an
emergency.
Florida
election 2004
Bush-appointed
judge faces challenge to keep her seat
(05/09/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
While 20
incumbent Broward County judges held their jobs Friday with no
opposition, one will have to fight to keep her seat in a nonpartisan
race touched by controversy before it even started. Circuit Judge Cheryl
J. Aleman will be going head-to-head on the
Aug. 31 ballot
Martinez
captivates with his life story
(
05/10/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
None of the
other Florida Republicans running for the U.S. Senate has the Mel
Martinez story. In front of audiences, he captivates with it. Whisked
out of communist
Cuba
to
Florida
, he climbed the ladder
of success to become secretary of Housing and Urban Development under
President Bush.
Open
seats bringing new faces
(05/10/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - As
Broward lawmakers finished the 2004 legislative session, they said
goodbye to familiar faces and readied for a shift in the political
landscape. Three Broward state representatives and one state senator are
running for other offices, leaving four open and hotly contested
legislative seats in a year where more than 500,000 voters are expected
to turn out to vote for president.
Crowded
Senate field heads toward Aug. 31 primary
(
05/09/2004
© Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
-- The largest U.S.
Senate field in
Florida
since 1974 has
qualified for the race to replace retiring Sen. Bob Graham. The
candidates include eight Republicans who will compete for their party's
nomination in the Aug. 31 primary.
Cowin
set to resign
(05/11/2004 © Daily
Commercial)
LEESBURG In an
attempt to move from the chambers of the Florida Capital to the
classrooms of Lake County, state Sen. Anna Cowin
started her campaign Monday to become Superintendent of Schools. Its
important for me to come back home, Cowin
said.
Five
Republicans running for U.S. Senate speak at Tampa forum
(05/10/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TAMPA, Fla. -
Five Republicans seeking to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Bob
Graham presented their views on issues such as terrorism, the economy
and health care at a candidates forum on Monday. Former U.S. Rep. Bill
McCollum, former U.S. Housing Secretary Mel
Martine
z,
Wexler
lawsuit over electronic voting machines is creating fear, state
officials say
(05/11/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
FORT LAUDERDALE
-- U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler's federal lawsuit over touch-screen voting
machines is helping foster doubts about the upcoming election and is
shaking people's faith in the new voting machines, attorneys for Florida
elections officials told a judge Monday.
Candidate
a novice but her outlook is upbeat
(05/11/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
ST. PETERSBURG -
Sonya March, an Air Force veteran who has never before run for office,
knows she faces an uphill battle in the crowded field of Republicans
vying to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. "Nobody knows who I
am," March, 40, said Monday. "I don't have a lot of
experience, but attitude is everything.
Cuban-American
Candidates Stake Out Distant Positions
(05/11/2004 © Tampa
Tribune)
BARTOW - Alex Penelas
and Mel
Martine
z, a pair of Catholic
Cuban-Americans in Florida's U.S. Senate race, used some divisive issues
to show their differences at a political forum Monday. Penelas,
the Democratic mayor of
Miami-Dade
County
, supported legal
abortion and challenged President Bush
Need
food stamps…call
India
(and other
state worker news)
State
hot line takes callers around world
(05/10/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WEST PALM BEACH
- When Florida food stamp recipients call an 800 number about their
benefits, they can reach friendly customer service representatives with
names like ''Amy'' and ``Nelson.'' While their salaries are paid with
Florida
tax money through a
state contract, Amy and Nelson actually
Bonuses
mark the state s new way of thinking
(
05/10/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
State employees
won't see the change on their paycheck stubs. Nobody will send out a
memo about the shift. There won't be any staff meetings announcing it,
although state workers will gradually notice the long-term impact of
their $1,000 one-time bonuses. It marks a shift in state government's
thinking about salaries.
Bush
still panders…family still in turmoil
The
Governor Has No Power To Intervene In Schiavo
Case
(05/10/2004 © Tampa
Tribune)
O nce
again a judge has affirmed the right of Terri Schiavo
to have doctors remove the hydration and nutrition tube that has kept
her alive for years. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Douglas Baird ruled
Thursday that ``Terri's Law'' is unconstitutional.
No
surprises
(05/11/2004 © Gainesville
Sun)
obody
should have been surprised by a judge's ruling last week invalidating a
special act of the Florida Legislature involving a permanently
brain-damaged woman in Pinellas County.
Violations
in principle Judge confirms chilling implications of Terri s Law
(
05/11/2004
© Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
In striking down
'Terri's Law' last week, a circuit judge upheld vital principles of
representative democracy. Those principles include a right to live free
from undue interference by government; respect for an independent
judiciary;
Johnnie
Byrd continues to fall
Byrd
loses support of Jupiter lawmaker
(05/11/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE -- A
mini-revolt against House Speaker Johnnie Byrd continued Monday with a
Republican state representative from Palm Beach County withdrawing his
support for Byrd's U.S. Senate campaign.
NATIONAL
NEWS
Economy
appears to be on the upswing – tell that to the unemployed
The
mainstream media is falling all over themselves
praising recent job growth figures but these accounts are a rush to
judgment. The economy is
beginning to create jobs but the job growth is but a drop in the bucket
when compared to the President’s dismal record and the ongoing jobs
crisis. Here are some media
accounts followed by a press release issued by President Hall on Friday.
Growth
of Jobs Reinforces Hopes of Sustained Turnaround
New York Times
5/10/2004
Manufacturing
sector creating more jobs at last
USA
TODAY
5/10/2004
Bush
Focuses on Good Jobs News as the Bad News on Iraq Looms
New York Times
5/8/2004
Workers'
scant spoils
USA
TODAY
5/10/2004
Mr.
Bush and the Economy
Washington
Post
5/10/2004
Surge
in Jobs Mostly Bypasses the Factory Floor
The New York Times
5/11/2004
U.S.
Workers' Wages Lag in Recovery While Company Profits Soar
Bloomberg News
5/10/2004
Press release from the
Florida
AFL-CIO on the recent economic reports showing an increase in the number
of jobs –
National
Jobs Situation Shows Improvement but Millions Still Struggling
Quality
of Jobs in
Florida
Continues to Decline
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its
monthly jobs report for April on Friday, May 7 and while the report
shows improvement, the nation still has a long way to go.
April’s jobs report shows that the economy created 288,000 nonfarm
jobs, the 2nd month in a row to show improvement.
Unfortunately, the unemployment rate for April remained
relatively stable at 5.6% and the number of jobs created represents a
mere drop in the bucket when compared to the number of jobs lost over
the past four years. The
US
is still in the midst of the worst jobs crisis in the last 40 years, and
the Bush administration is headed towards the worst record for jobs
creation in the past 58 years. As
of March 2004, the
US
economy has shed over 2.8 million jobs. Currently there are over 15
million Americans unemployed or underemployed.
Since January of this year, 1.5 million workers have exhausted
their unemployment insurance benefits without finding work and the BLS
reports that the average duration of unemployment is longer than 20
weeks creating the worst long-term unemployment crisis since the Great
Depression. Cindy Hall,
President of the Florida AFL-CIO stated, “Today’s report is
encouraging and we are always glad to hear that more workers are back on
the job, but when you look at today’s numbers in the context of the
big picture the situation is still pretty bleak.
We are still in the grip of a bona fide crisis situation.”
Similarly, the situation in
Florida
remains problematic. Governor
Jeb Bush has touted
Florida
’s economy as the strongest in the nation, and at first glance the job
numbers seem to support that assertion.
A more careful examination of the numbers paints a different
picture. As of March 2004,
Florida
’s economy added 236,000 jobs but this number is only half (52.5%) the
number needed to keep up with the state’s population growth.
The bulk of these jobs have been in the tourist and service
sectors. These jobs pay
less and often do not provide workers with basic benefits such as health
insurance coverage. Sectors
that traditionally provide good jobs with solid benefits—
manufacturing and information services—have shed 59,100 and 21,000
jobs, respectively.
Florida
continues to lose good jobs through trade agreements and outsourcing.
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that at least 23
Florida
companies slashed jobs from their payrolls due to NAFTA and other trade
deals. These cuts affected
an estimated 1,702 workers. The
outsourcing trend also includes the white-collar sectors.
Customer service representative jobs are particularly vulnerable
because of the nature of the work.
This is troublesome for
Florida
, which has more customer service representative jobs than any state
other than
California
and
Texas
. In 2002, there were
125,850 customer service jobs in
Florida
. According to a TEC
International Quarterly Survey, 4.3 percent of
Florida
call center CEOs said they planned to ship customer service jobs
overseas in the next year. These
trends are hurting Floridians where it hurts most, their pockets.
Average wages in the state’s growing industries are 15.2
percent lower— $5,374 less—than those in industries that are
shedding jobs.
These economic shifts are having a devastating effect on
Florida
’s quality of life. In
2002, 2,843,000 Floridians were uninsured, an increase of 223,000 (8.5%)
since 2000.
Between 2001 and 2002, incomes for typical families fell $1,276,
to $37,512. In 2002,
2,058,000 Floridians were poor—304,000 more than in 2000.
Personal bankruptcies rose 30.3 percent between 2000 and 2003,
from 71,284 (2000) to 92,890 (2003).
Cindy Hall said, “The release of April’s jobs data should
remind everyone that working families both in the
US
and here in
Florida
have suffered greatly over the past few years.
We need real change in both
Washington
and
Tallahassee
before they will get any relief.”
The Florida
AFL-CIO is a federation of over 450 labor unions in Florida representing
500,000 workers, retirees and their families.
From the AFL-CIO “Work
in Progress”
LONG
WAY TO GO ON JOBS--Although April unemployment figures released by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics May 7 bring encouraging news,
U.S.
workers are
still suffering under a huge jobs deficit created under the Bush
administration, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. The unemployment
rate fell slightly to 5.6 percent, though long-term unemployment--and
worker anxiety--remain high. "We still have a long way to go to
climb out of the deep jobs hole that has consumed millions of
Americans," Sweeney said.
Another big win in the
fight to protect overtime – Bush still pushing
SENATE
TO BUSH: STOP YOUR O.T. PAY GRAB--
U.S.
workers won a
major victory and handed President George W. Bush a stinging defeat May
4 when the U.S. Senate voted to guarantee that workers now eligible for
overtime pay will not lose their overtime pay protections despite new
regulations issued by the Bush administration April 23. The new rules,
which redefine who is eligible for overtime pay, are due to go into
effect in late August unless Congress acts to stop them. On a 52-47
bipartisan vote, senators approved an amendment to the Foreign Sales
Corporation tax legislation (S. 1637) to allow updates to the Fair Labor
Standards Act's rules that expand overtime pay eligibility while
ensuring no workers currently eligible for overtime pay lose it. AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney called the Senate's action a "common-sense
decision. There is simply no reason for the Bush administration to slash
a single worker's overtime pay, especially in this economy, when
middle-income families are already so hard pressed." The vote came
after nearly two weeks of an intense Bush administration spin operation
to paint the new regulations as an expansion of overtime pay
eligibility. "The Bush administration's final rule is a frontal
attack on the 40-hour workweek, and it is bad economic policy. My
amendment guarantees that workers will not lose their right to overtime
pay," said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), the amendment's sponsor. The
U.S. House of Representatives could vote on the measure soon. Passage
would force President Bush to either sign or veto the legislation.
Sweeney urged the House to "support the Harkin amendment and
reassure all working Americans that their rights to overtime pay will be
protected." Visit http://www.aflcio.org
to take action to save overtime pay.
Millions
of workers labor with no health insurance protection
WORKERS
LACK HEALTH INSURANCE, TOO--Some 20 million working people have no
health care coverage, according to a new study by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation released May 5. The study, "Characteristics of
the Uninsured: A View from the States," also found that in six
states, one in five working adults is not insured. In 38 other states,
one in 10 is uninsured. Overall, nearly 44 million Americans lack health
care coverage. The report was released as part of Cover the Uninsured
Week, an effort by a diverse group of organizations, including the
AFL-CIO, SEIU, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, health and insurance
industry groups and community and health advocacy organizations, to
focus attention on the plight of those without coverage. For more
information, visit http://www.covertheuninsuredweek.org
.
Threats
used to pass Medicare bill
(
05/11/2004
© Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
The pharmacies
win again. Richard Foster, chief actuary for the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, testified recently that he was told by the head
of the Medicare program that he would be fired if he told Congress the
real cost to the taxpayers of the new Medicare program.
Election 2004
Bush
approval rating hits lowest point
USA
Today
5/11/2004
Kerry
Vows to Rein in Health Care Premiums
The New York Times
5/11/2004
Kerry
launches weeklong push to detail health care platform
USA
Today
5/11/2004
POLITICAL
POINTS: Sorry's Such a Hard Word
New York Times
5/9/2004
Bush
foes converge, disperse for votes
Portland
Oregonian
5/9/2004
Political
games and referees
(
05/11/2004
© Ocala
Star Banner)
Judicially
speaking, how much partisanship is too much partisanship? Justice John
Paul Stevens, dissenting last week in a
Pennsylvania
redistricting case,
provided one answer.
Wal-Mart watch
In
Va. Election, Wal-Mart Is the Common Foe
Washington
Post
5/10/2004
`Activists,'
not Wal-Mart, are the enemy
Chicago
Tribune
5/10/2004
Other
labor news
CNN
FIGHTS UNION OVER CONVENTION
New York
Post
5/10/2004
SBC,
union leader try to avoid strike Federal mediator, executives to hold
summit
San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com)
5/10/2004
Union
Protests Could Disrupt Cannes Film Fest
New York Times
5/9/2004
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.
