05/18/04
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 2,019
Year to date: 57,527
* Click on blue,
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STATE NEWS
More
legislative session fallout
NRA
servants
(
05/17/2004
© Florida
Today)
So you thought
Florida
was run by the people
through the Legislature? Forget it, especially in an election year. And
especially when the group is the National Rifle Association, which
typically gets what it wants no matter how damaging those demands are to
the public good.
Open
government advocacy group asks Bush to veto three bills
(05/17/2004 © Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
A nonprofit open
government advocacy group asked Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday to veto three
bills it says weakens Florida's strong public records laws.
Year-round
Legislature? No thanks
(
05/17/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
Well, the
Legislature has been out of town for a little more than two weeks now.
Traffic around town is less congested. You can get lunch more quickly
downtown.
Election
year aside, Bush sharpens veto pen
(
05/17/2004
© Sarasota
Herald-Tribune)
Don't expect
Gov. Jeb Bush to show any election-year leniency to his fellow
Republicans in the Legislature when he reviews the new $58 billion state
budget in the next few weeks. Bush has made fiscal discipline, which
includes a staunch opposition to raising taxes, one of the hallmarks of
his two terms as governor.
Legislature
OKs $7.6M for Super Bowl security
(
05/17/2004
© Jacksonville
Business Journal)
JACKSONVILLE
-- The Legislature
tucked $7.6 million into next year's $57 billion state budget to help
Jacksonville
pay for extra security
during Super Bowl XXXIX. If Gov. Jeb Bush doesn't use his line-item
veto, the money would go to six city agencies for homeland security-type
services as an expected 100,000 visitors descend on
Jacksonville
for a week in early
February.
Legislature
hands UNF $18M for construction
(
05/17/2004
© Jacksonville
Business Journal)
The University
of North Florida garnered almost $17.5 million in construction funds
from the state last month, setting a record for a relatively young
school. The Florida Legislature ponied up
the public enrollment capital outlay (PECO) dollars, ranking UNF fifth
in PECO funding for the upcoming academic year
Law
aims to help uninsured, provide more consumer data
(
05/17/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
The latest
legislative session produced one of the state's most far-reaching
health-care laws in recent history: the Affordable Health Care Act.
Overall, the new law is a mish-mash of provisions that go in two basic
directions: insurance reform related to the uninsured and consumer
access to hospital costs and other data.
Education
Editorial:
FCAT finds problems; state fails to solve them
(
05/17/2004
© Palm
Beach Post)
Florida
's public schools
apparently harbor thousands of kids who can write a bang-up essay but
can't read it once they're done. Doubt it? Look at the 2004 FCAT
results, which the Department of Education released last week.
Palm
Beach County balks at moving school bus stops due to sexual predators
(05/18/2004 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
With 14,000
public school bus stops across Palm Beach County, chances are some of
them are near a convicted sex offender's home. District officials told
School Board members Monday they are concerned about having to relocate
some of those stops, due to a new state law designed to put more
distance between sexual predators and children.
TaxWatch
Seeks Veto Of Pre-K Bill
(05/18/2004 © Jackconville
News Channel 4)
CORAL GABLES,
Fla. -- Florida TaxWatch urged Gov. Jeb Bush
on Monday to veto a bill implementing the pre-kindergarten amendment,
saying it does not go far enough to satisfy the Florida voters who
approved it in 2002.
Health
Care
Doctors
resist Bush s plan to cap Medicaid spending
(
05/17/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- Leading lawmakers
are sold on Gov. Jeb Bush's plan to overhaul Medicaid. So are federal
officials, who have given Bush the green light to draft a plan for their
approval.
Saving
for a rainy sick day
(05/18/2004 © Boca
Raton News)
Employers will
soon have two new ways to provide more effective and flexible health
insurance options to employees by making them save their own money to
apply towards super-sized hospital bills.
The politics of
politics
New
law to expose donors behind political ads
(
05/17/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
They can't take
all the dirty tricks out of politics. But this year
Florida
voters will be able to
find out who finances some of the TV attack ads and mass mailings that
deluge them just before the Aug. 31 primaries and the Nov. 2 general
election.
Byrd
says staff will try to retrieve deleted e-mails
(
05/15/2004
© Ft.
Pierce Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
, Fla.- House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd said Saturday that his staff will "take whatever steps
necessary" to retrieve e-mails his chief of staff deleted shortly
after the year's legislative session ended. The staffer, P.K. Jameson,
deleted the e-mails that she received on April 29 and 30 _ the session's
final two days _ on May 1.
Oliphant
doesn t get it
(05/17/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
So Miriam
Oliphant, the former Broward County Supervisor of Elections who was
removed from office by Gov. Jeb Bush because of gross incompetence,
wants another shot at the taxpayer trough. She recently picked up papers
to run again for public office in
Broward
County
. Clearly, she refuses
to accept any responsibility for her massive failings as elections
chief.
Florida
election 2004
Hispanics
hold key to White House, Democratic leaders say
(05/15/2004 © Ft.
Pierce Tribune)
ORLANDO, Fla.-
John Kerry can win the White House if he earns two-thirds of the 3
million Hispanic voters who have been added to registration rolls since
2000, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said
Saturday.
POLITICAL
TICKER: Democrats work on Hispanic vote ... just in case
(05/17/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
ORLANDO -- For
one more bit of evidence how the presidential campaigns are seeking
niches of voters, consider this weekend's Hispanic Leadership Summit
here by the Democratic Party.
House
race cools off
(
05/18/2004
© Daily
Commercial)
CELEBRATION A
once-heated state House race has started to chill. State Rep. Randy
Johnson, R-Celebration, has told his staff members he will abandon his
state Senate aspirations and file for re-election to his current seat.
Insurance
crusader runs for office
(05/18/2004 © Englewood
Sun Herald)
Wahl seeks
Paul's house seat Her personal crusade to close a loophole in Florida
law to protect patients from the 'death spiral' insurance scheme won her
recognization in the Wall Street Journal and
ABC News.
Rep.
Deutsch s deep pockets finance his U.S. Senate bid
(
05/17/2004
© Miami
Herald)
Throughout his
political career, Peter Deutsch has not hesitated to use his own money
in a tough race. Fresh out of
Yale
Law
School
, he lent himself
$10,000, nearly a third of his campaign treasury, to run for the Florida
House of Representatives.
St.
Johns candidate confirms booby-trapping his campaign signs
(05/17/2004 © Miami
Herald)
ST. AUGUSTINE,
Fla. - A St. Johns County Commission candidate says he put nails with
exposed tips in a campaign sign to 'stick' anyone who tried to take it.
It worked when a man was stuck as he tried to remove a sign he said was
posted on his property without permission,
Orlando
Judge keeps candidates suit in play
(05/18/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
A judge on
Monday denied attempts by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Commissioner
Ernest Page to throw out a case brought by their opponents seeking to
overturn their elections.
Cowin
s decision has domino effect
(05/18/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
MOUNT DORA --
When state Sen. Anna Cowin announced last
week that she was resigning to run for superintendent of schools in Lake
County, it created a domino effect in the area's political landscape.
Randy Wiseman, a
Mount
Dora
resident and a former
member of the Lake County School Board, said he filed to run for House
District 25.
Martinez
loses support of ex-White House counsel Gray
(05/17/2004 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE --
C. Boyden Gray, who served as White House
counsel under the first President Bush, has withdrawn his support of
U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez and switched to another Republican,
Bill McCollum. Gray, a
Washington
lawyer and lobbyist,
was a member of a host committee
Florida
labor news
Legislation
improves conditions for Florida farmworkers
(05/18/2004 © DeSoto
Sun Herald)
Legislation
signed by Governor Jeb Bush last week will better protect farmworkers
from violations of their essential rights and promote a stronger working
relationship between growers and farmworkers.
Lawyers
make way toward unionization
(05/18/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
A fledgling
union of attorneys who work for the state claimed victory Monday in its
12-year fight for recognition, possibly paving the way for others in its
job classification to negotiate wages and job security.
Supporters
of Graceville prison find friends in Tallahassee
(05/18/2004 © DeSoto
Sun Herald)
Florida
legislators are willing to dedicate $54 million in state funds toward
the preliminary cost of building a new Graceville prison, but there's a
catch -- they want to make it a privately-run institution rather than a
state-run operation.
A
Curious Choice
(
05/18/2004
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Gov. Jeb Bush
made a curious pick to head the embattled Department of Juvenile Justice
and guide it to a measure of respectability and accountability. It's bad
enough that Anthony J. Schembri comes to
Florida
under a cloud of
controversy, after resigning in disgrace from his last high-profile job
running
New York City
's jail system.
LPN Veronica
McCray, SEIU 1199
Florida
member, traveled
to
Washington
,
DC
last week to
speak in support of the Employee Free Choice Act..........
Veronica organized her coworkers as part of a card
check/majority verification agreement won by SEIU 1199FL with
her employer.
From
the AFL-CIO Voice at Work Campaign....
Nurses
Tell Their Stories on Capital Hill as Part of "Nurses Week"
Nurses from
Miami
,
New
Jersey
,
Ohio
and
Illinois
descended on Capital Hill May 14 to tell congressional staffers their
stories about what happened when they tried to form a union with SEIU,
UAN and AFSCME to secure manageable patient-nurse ratios and win a say
in their working conditions. They also addressed the need for members of
Congress to support the Employee Free Choice Act to protect the basic
freedom of workers to form unions in the health care industry.
________________________________________________
Remarks by Veronica McCray, LPN, SEIU 1199 Florida member at
Jackson Plaza Nursing Center, Miami
Introduction
- My
name is Veronica McCray and I have worked for more than two years at
the
Jackson
Plaza
Rehabilitation
Center
in
Miami
Florida
as a licensed practical nurse.
- My
story about what happened when I tried to form a union with my
co-workers is very different from what the others are saying today.
I wanted to form a union because….
- I
wanted to form a union with SEIU 1199 because I felt that I was not
being treated with respect and that the company was using favoritism
when it came to how they decided to offer promotions.
- When
the company came under new management, I felt that things had
changed, and that I was not being treated with respect or dignity.
- I
also wanted to form a union to have a secure pension so that I can
support myself once I retire.
My story is different in that we
could just sign our co-workers up on cards…
- One
of my co-workers began to collect cards indicating our desire to
form a union.
- I
signed up right away.
- In
fact, almost everyone signed up right away because they had the same
problems that I was having.
- Our
administrator called a meeting once she found out.
She said that she was surprised we wanted to form a union but
she did not actively oppose us.
- We
presented her with a majority of cards signed by almost all the
nurse staff.
- A
count of the cards verified that enough people indicated
their desire to form a union to recognize our union through a
majority verification count.
- The
reason why we did not encounter opposition or effectively have to
decide again on forming a union through an NLRB election is that the
company had already agreed with SEIU to recognize our union once we
had a majority who indicated this desire on authorization cards.
- Right
away, the company decided that they would cooperate and reach an
agreement on a first contract.
- In
only two months since the day we started organizing, I had a
contract that protected me from favoritism and secured me a pension
for my future.
- Because
of this we never developed a bad relationship with management and
this way we did not have to face a hostile environment like the
others here today.
- This
is because we were able to form a union through a majority
verification procedure. That
means that after demonstrating that a majority of us wanted to form
a union – our union was immediately recognized.
- This
should be the method by which all workers form unions and should be
the law of the land.
- That
is why I urge you all to support the Employee Free Choice Act.
Lawmakers
continue to violate constitution
Rail
project needs more money fast
(05/18/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
The state panel
planning a bullet-train system between Tampa and Orlando is under
pressure to find much of its money this summer, so the authority is
pressuring the system's private contractor to pony up what it can.
High-Speed
Rail Panel Set to Bite the Bullet
(05/18/2004 © Lakeland
Ledger)
High-Speed Rail
Panel Set to Bite the Bullet Authority asks contractor for more money up
front, may reopen bidding. By MIKE BRANOM The Associated Press ORLANDO
-- A stark warning that the voter-mandated state bullet train may never
roll for lack of funding prompted the Florida High Speed Rail Authority
to ask its contractor Monday for more money up front.
NATIONAL
NEWS
Election
2004
Pioneers
Fill War Chest, Then Capitalize
To
view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29142-2004May15.html?referrer=emailarticle
Portland
crowd rallies around Kerry
Portland
Oregonian
Altria
Plans Ads on Bush, Kerry Policies
(05/17/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON -
Tobacco and food giant Altria Group Inc. is
asking federal regulators to sign off on its plan to run magazine ads
contrasting the policies of President Bush and Democratic candidate John
Kerry.
Bush
backers see a liability in Kerry s wife
(05/17/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON -
During his recent campaign tour of Michigan, President Bush stood before
a crowd in a Kalamazoo hockey arena and made his case for a second term
-- for his wife. ''The best reason for four more years is to make sure
that Laura is the first lady for four more years,'' Bush said.
Economy,
Iraq knock down Bush rating
(05/17/2004 © Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON - Six
months before the November election, President Bush has slipped into a
politically fragile position that has put his reelection at risk, with
the public clearly disaffected by his handling of the two biggest issues
facing the country, Iraq and the economy.
Environmentalists
criticize President on oil drilling
(05/17/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - An environmental group plans to air ads starting Tuesday that
attack President Bush's record on oil drilling, saying his moves to
block drilling in Florida waters don't reflect his true desires and
belie a bad environmental record.
Nelson
s odds rise as ticket partner
(
05/18/2004
© Miami
Herald)
U.S. Sen. Bill
Nelson's stock in the vice-presidential sweepstakes is said to be on the
rise. As reported in the New York Post -- under the headline Kerry's
Juicy Option -- Nelson has shot to fourth place as a vice-presidential
contender, according to the strategists who compile the odds
Kerry
continues policy rollout
Kerry
vows to toughen trade deals
AP
5/16/2004
Kerry
talks tough on trade partners
Chicago
Tribune
5/17/2004
Uncovering the truth
about Bush’s Medicare
Democrats
Sue to Get Medicare Bill Costs
(
05/17/2004
© Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON
- Democratic lawmakers
filed a federal lawsuit Monday in an effort to force the Bush
administration to turn over estimates of the cost of last year's
Medicare legislation.
Pick
a Card!#?$!
The
Washington
Post
Healing
Health Care
The
Washington
Post
5/15/2004
Washington
Republicans shut down worker benefits
UI
EXTENSION FAILS--Senate
Republicans used a parliamentary maneuver May 11 to defeat Democrats'
attempts to renew the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
program, which provides additional weeks of federal unemployment
benefits to jobless workers who have run out of regular state benefits.
Eleven Republicans joined with the Democrats in support of an amendment
by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Sixty votes were needed to overcome a
budget point of order raised by the Republicans, but supporters of the
amendment fell one vote short because the Republicans manipulated the
timing of the vote to occur when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who supports
the extension, was out of town campaigning. In other legislative news,
after a year of negotiations, the AFL-CIO, asbestos companies and
insurers were unable to reach agreement on legislation to set up a
national trust fund to compensate victims of asbestos disease. "The
AFL-CIO remains committed to seeking fair compensation for asbestos
victims," federation President John Sweeney said.
REPUBLICANS
WON'T EVEN DEBATE O.T.--House
Republicans refused to allow a vote or debate on a measure that would
protect overtime pay for many workers who stand to lose it under new
regulations approved by the Bush administration. The new regulations,
which redefine who is eligible for overtime pay, will go into effect
Aug. 23 unless Congress acts to stop them. On May 12, the House voted
222-205 to table a motion, introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.),
that would have instructed House conferees to add language to an
appropriations bill to prevent the overtime regulations from taking away
overtime pay rights from workers who qualify under current rules. The
U.S. Senate, on May 4, voted 52-47 for an amendment by Sen. Tom Harkin
(D-Iowa) to guarantee that workers now eligible for overtime pay will
not lose it under new regulations. The House Republican leadership is
trying to delay a vote on the Harkin amendment until after the final
overtime changes go into effect in late August. "
America
's workers deserve to
at least have a vote on this matter in the House so that they can see
where their leaders stand on [President George W.] Bush's efforts to
slash their overtime pay," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said.
Visit http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/votenow4otpay
to urge your representative to demand a vote on overtime pay.
Laid-off
workers could lose job training
St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
5/16/2004
New
Federal Overtime Rules Sow Confusion In The
States
Hartford
Courant
5/16/2004
The
Bush Economy
Offshoring
jobs expected to leap to 830G by '06
Boston
Herald
Fear
of Soaring
Washington
Post
5/16/2004
Executive
pay issue gets closer attention
Arizona
Republic
5/16/2004
Gap
in CEO pay, workers' still big
Dallas
Morning
News
5/15/2004
Bank
of America Corp. expands into India outsourcing
Charlotte
Observer/Charlotte.com
5/14/2004
EEOC
defends letting firms drop retiree health benefit
Chicago
Tribune
National labor news
Union,
Habitat link up
Cincinnati
Enquirer
5/17/2004
Two-Thirds
Of Federal Workers Get a Bonus
The
Washington
Post
5/17/2004
State
union workers hit the picket line
WQAD-TV
8 (Davenport/Rock
Island
/
Moline
)
5/17/2004
Con
Ed Union Authorizes Strike if Talks Fail
Reuters
5/14/2004
Jobs-Producing
Highway Bill Teetering
(
05/17/2004
© Miami
Herald)
WASHINGTON
- It's legislation
dear to the hearts of politicians: a highway spending bill spreading
jobs and economic benefits throughout the country. But even such a
popular measure can't get traction this year against a White House that
insists the bill is just too much of a good thing.
Toyota
proves union-resistant
Cincinnati
Enquirer
Homeland
Security Moves to Consolidate Unions in Customs and Border Protection
Bureau
Washington
Post
Florida
farm workers to strike back
NOT SO YUMMY--The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group of
Florida
farm workers
who pick tomatoes for a Taco Bell contractor, will protest subpoverty
wages and sweatshop working conditions outside the annual Yum! Brands
shareholders meeting in
Louisville
,
Ky.
,
on May 20.
Yum! Brands is the world's largest restaurant
company and owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silvers and
A&W Restaurants. The workers will build a "Pyramid of
Poverty" with picking buckets, representing the low pay rate for
each pound of tomatoes they pick. At the current rate, a farm worker
must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn $50. For more information, visit http://www.ciw-online.org
.
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