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07/06/04
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: No data
Year to date: No data
It’s
Official…Kerry/Edwards ’04!
"I want you to know why I'm excited about running for president
with John Edwards by my side. John understands and defends the values of
America
. He
has shown courage and conviction as a champion for middle class Americans
and those struggling to reach the middle class. In the Senate, he worked
to reform our intelligence, to combat bioterrorism,
and keep our military strong. John reaches across party lines and speaks
to the heart of
America
--
hope and optimism. Throughout his own campaign for President, John spoke
about the great divide in this country -- the 'Two
Americas
' --
that exist between those who are doing well today and those that are
struggling to make it from day to day. And I am so proud that we're going
to build one
America
together."
-- John Kerry, in
announcing by email to his supporters, his selection of John Edwards as
his running mate.
FTAA POLICE BRUTALITY VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE!
HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENDED!
At the 2004 Legislative Conference we screened a 12
minute video of the police brutality following the 20,000 strong march
for fair trade during the Fair Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
ministerial meeting in
Miami
. Dozens of labor leaders
wanted to secure a copy so that they could spread the word about what
happened on the streets of downtown
Miami
. The AFL-CIO is continuing
to push for accountability in various legal channels but too many people
still don’t know what happened and how bad it really was.
Hundreds of union members, students and retirees were victimized by
the over 3,000 members of the law enforcement community and we have the
video to prove it! Funding
for the massive police build-up was provided by President Bush from the
original $87 billion Iraqi war legislation and you should see what your
tax dollars paid for. This
video makes a disturbing but powerful statement as to the lengths in which
President Bush and his supporters are willing to go to hand control of our
nation and our planet to the biggest multi-national corporations.
This is an excellent
organizing and mobilization tool that will fire up the troops for the
election battles that lie ahead.
This is the footage the
corporate media doesn’t want you to know about!
COPIES
OF THE VIDEO CAN BE ORDERED AT OUR WEBSITE AT www.flaflcio.org.
Check out the following article:
Panel faults police during FTAA
Miami
Herald
6/3/2004
(From
the AFL-CIO Work in Progress)
'POLICE
TRAMPLED FTAA MARCHERS' RIGHTS'--Activists who went to
Miami
Nov. 18-20 to
protest the closed-door meetings to finalize the Free Trade Area of the
Americas
were met by the
equivalent of martial law. In some cases, police reacted with an
"unrestrained and disproportionate use of force" and "civil
rights were trampled," according to a draft report released late last
month by the Miami-Dade County Independent Review Panel, which is
examining police conduct during the conference. At a public hearing in
December, union members, retirees, students and community members
described mismanagement by police officials in
Miami
that led to
numerous instances of obstruction, intimidation, harassment and repressive
tactics against 20,000 peaceful protestors during a march in downtown
Miami
Nov. 20. To
read a copy of the report, visit http://www.miamidade.gov/irp/Library/5-19-04_FTAA_Exec_sum.pdf
.
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Make
sure you see this movie!
No
innocents here
(07/06/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
The flukish
reign of Fahrenheit 9/11 at the top of the box-office rankings came to an
end last Wednesday, thanks to Spider-Man 2. But Michael Moore, the
director of Fahrenheit, now finds himself in a legal tangle.
Fahrenheit
9/11 sparks controversy
(06/18/2004 © Panama
City News Herald)
LOS ANGELES While
the White House and the Republican National Committee have taken an
official 'no comment' approach to Michael Moore and his new anti-Bush
documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, some groups have mobilized a letter-writing
campaign and crafted ads that slam the film
POLITICAL
TICKER: Brown gets screen time in Fahrenheit
(
06/21/2004
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
U.S. Rep. Corrine
Brown of
Jacksonville
is in the movies. Brown
said she has gotten word she's in Fahrenheit 9/11, the new Michael Moore
movie said to blister President Bush.
Check out this preview clip
http://politicalhumor.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.fahrenheit911.com/trailer/
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Florida
Students Shine with
Union
Plus Scholarships!
Over
6,800 students from union families around the country competed for 106
scholarships and 2 students from
Florida
made the cut! These students
were chosen because of their academic achievement, character, leadership
abilities and appreciation of the labor movement.
Darien Capron, whose father Ron is a member of APWU Local #1519.
Megan Fitzgerald, whose mother Donna is a member of NATCA (air
traffic controllers) at
Orlando
airport.
On behalf of all
of us here at the
Florida
AFL-CIO, congrats to these students and their families!
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*
Click on blue, underlined text to open full article
STATE
NEWS
Florida
election 2004
Democratic
Senate Candidates Set to Spread Messages
(
07/06/2004
© Lakeland
Ledger)
ST. PETERSBURG
-- So far, it is not the
candidates driving the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S.
Senate. A national abortion rights group is sending hundreds of thousands
of dollars to
Florida
. An independent group is
lodging frequent attacks.
Al-Arian
terrorism case still follows Castor
(07/06/2004 © Miami
Herald)
When the
University of South Florida hired Betty Castor as president in 1994,
critics grumbled that the former state Cabinet member, state senator and
county commissioner was a politician, not an academic.
Challenger
may loosen Shaws grip in House
(07/06/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
WEST PALM BEACH --
After jetting to six cities in 10 days to raise campaign cash, Democratic
congressional challenger Jim Stork sounded almost apologetic last week
when he spoke to an audience of locals.
Candidates
draw national attention
(07/05/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
The Big Bend and
Panhandle aren't known for heated congressional campaigns, but this year's
race between Allen Boyd and Bev Kilmer figures to be the most closely
watched and bitterly fought contest in Florida.
North
Florida booms, sticks to political roots
(
07/06/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
FORT
WALTON
BEACH
-- As unrelenting growth
transforms the one-time rural backwater of
North Florida
, one thing is not
changing: its conservative roots. Booming beachfront development and
growth are sweeping across even remote reaches of the state's
oldest and most conservative
Primary
stretch could be nasty
(
07/05/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
So far, it's not
the candidates driving the race for the Democratic nomination for the U.S.
Senate. A national abortion rights group is sending hundreds of thousands
of dollars to
Florida
. An independent group is
lodging frequent attacks.
Senate
hopefuls have long list of backers
(07/05/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
In the race to
become the next U.S. senator from Florida, who's raising money for whom
says much about each campaign. On the Republican side, Mel Martinez's
campaign is full of people with fund-raising ties to President Bush and
Gov. Jeb Bush. Former Rep. Bill McCollum's campaign
New
law restricts ads for Martinez campaign
(07/05/2004 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE - As
he readies his first political ads this month, Mel Martinez could have one
less tool to advertise that he's the White House's chosen one in Florida's
U.S. Senate race.
Will it be fair?
Fighting
for voting rights
(07/06/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Cassandra Collins
bustles about her new office, high heels clicking down the hallway as she
attends to a detail here, another detail there. There's a fluorescent
light fixture in the ceiling, its wires hanging as it awaits the repairman
Does
Anyone Yearn For FloriDUH 2004?
(
07/05/2004
© Tampa
Tribune)
Are you beginning
to get the feeling that by November, Gov. Bush will sign an executive
order mandating
Florida
's presidential
preference will be decided by a voice vote? Geez,
it would probably be more accurate, too. Spanky's
ascension to lead the Little Rascals was more Jeffersonian.
Check out this guy!
Activist
rounds up signs posted on right of way
(
07/06/2004
© Panama City
News Herald)
SHALIMAR Dean Crumly
is a seasoned agitator. Twice, he has publicly donned a pig mask to
protest what he considered to be lavish government spending.
Constitutional
amendments
Governments
raise warning about homestead proposal
(
07/06/2004
© Naples
Daily News)
It's an easy sell.
What homeowner wouldn't want to pay less property taxes?
But there are growing concerns from local governments here and across the
state about how a citizen initiative to double the homestead exemption in
Florida
might threaten services
and ultimately lead them
Amendments
Go To Court
(
07/06/2004
© Tampa
Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
- The number of citizen
initiatives on the ballot this year could be determined not by citizens or
lawmakers but by the Florida Supreme Court. Although its role is limited
to largely technical issues, the state's highest court has the power to
block proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution from reaching the
ballot. 'The unfortunate part about this is that it is about raising money
in the early days,' St...
Abusing
Florida s constitution
(07/06/2004 © Ocala
Star Banner)
Half of Floridians
say they have signed petitions to put constitutional amendments on the
ballot, not because they believe deeply in the issue or even understand
it, but simply to get the signature gatherer to go away and leave them
alone.
HIGH-SPEED
RAIL: Governor overstated the costs
(07/05/2004 © Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
Gov. Jeb Bush and
Florida Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher have launched a mail and
e-mail disinformation campaign to discredit and defeat the Florida
high-speed rail project voted into our constitution in November 2000.
Still
on track
(
07/05/2004
© Orlando
Sentinel)
The state's
tenuous attempt to respect construction of a voter-mandated high-speed
train in
Florida
recently received some
welcome news.
Saull
proposal divides reps
(07/05/2004 © Vero
Beach Press Journal)
INDIAN RIVER
COUNTY - The county's two Florida House members, both Republican, are
divided on whether doubling Florida's $25,000 homestead exemption would
actually save taxes for residents
Education
Improving
state s high schools won t be easy, experts say
(07/06/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
Experts have a
warning for Florida's struggling high schools: Don't look for salvation in
those better-prepared youngsters working their way up from the lower
grades Instead, they contend, Florida needs intensive, well-funded
high-school reforms,
Board
of Governors: hope for higher education
(
07/06/2004
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
Re:
"Thoughtful process? Who is Jeb Bush trying to kid?" (My View,
June 28). Guest columnist Mark Riordan complained of the new system under
the Board of Governors and recommended we return to the free-for-all
status of decentralized control.
Middle
schools turn to reading
(07/05/2004 © Orlando
Sentinel)
Only 18 middle
schools in Florida meet tough new standards for reading, leaving hundreds
of others scrambling to organize crash reading programs before classes
resume next month. Schools where less than 75 percent of students in
sixth, seventh or eighth grades are reading on grade level must make
reading their top priority under the Middle Grades Reform Act, which Gov.
Jeb Bush pushed
Unfunded
state mandate
(
07/05/2004
© Winter
Haven News Chief)
If Gov. Jeb Bush
has his way, an American flag will be present in every public classroom in
Florida
, from grade school to
colleges and universities. While we wholeheartedly
agree with the government concerning the importance of promoting and
instilling patriotism by having the
U.S.
A day in the life of
Florida
’s Junior
Senator
Sen.
Nelsons hectic day marked by jarring news
(
07/06/2004
© Ft. Myers
News-Press)
WASHINGTON
Memories of home are never far from Bill Nelsons thoughts. His
first political speech as a junior high school student in
Melbourne
.
Winning election to the state Legislature and then
Congress.
How
it is done…unfortunately
More
power means more ethical jams
(07/05/2004 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
The higher you go
in business or government, the easier it is to feel entitled to - and
unaffected by - certain perks and privileges. There have been Wall Street
tycoons who tell the SEC's snoops and the IRS that renovating a
Park Avenue
pied-a-terre
or flying their kids to Vail was, by their
standards, a legitimate business expense that their companies should
cover.
NRA-style
enforcement
(
07/06/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
In
Florida
, law enforcement agents
might mine your bank records, movie rentals, book purchases, drug
prescriptions. They might stop your car for a random road check, ask for
identification based on your nationality or possibly race. But if they
keep a record of your gun, they may be headed to the slammer.
Digging
up who runs the county
(
07/06/2004
© Palm Beach
Post)
The bodies are
buried at
Peanut
Island
. I know that now, since
lobbyist Hugo Unruh sent me a map, with this kind note: 'In response to
your editorial column assuming that I know 'where the bodies are buried'
in
Palm Beach
County
, I have enclosed a
treasure map for you.
Privatize
this!
Poverty
for sale
(
07/05/2004
© Florida
Today)
There's profit to
be made from poverty -- really big profit. That's why
Florida
's welfare system is
being sold to private corporations, including food stamps, Medicaid and
temporary emergency cash assistance operations.
Other state news
Rise
in traffic fines described as user fee
(
07/05/2004
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
NEW SMYRNA BEACH
-- Getting pulled over for a broken headlight or lead-foot driving will
cost more. In an effort to fund a voter-mandated shift in court costs from
the county to the state, the Legislature hiked the fines motorists pay for
traffic infractions.
Smarter,
not tougher
(
07/06/2004
© Gainesville
Sun)
n the same day
last week, two conflicting things happened - one on the national level and
one in
Tallahassee
.
Building
a road that spares the river
(
07/06/2004
© Miami
Herald)
Build a road in
Florida
, and they will come --
by the thousands, bringing strip malls, subdivisions and other symbols of
sprawl. A bill signed by Gov. Jeb Bush last week might change that
equation for future road projects.
Water
request opens flood of debate
(07/05/2004 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE --
When a private firm tried to convince state regulators that it should
operate a water business on 50,000 acres of rural Volusia and Brevard
counties, it couldn't point to any major customers.
List
of contested states may be growing
(07/05/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
WASHINGTON --
James Carville ran his hand across the back of his head several times, a
gesture of frustration with the jigsaw puzzle that is a presidential
campaign. 'Democrats always like to talk about how
Colorado
is in play, but I just
don't know,' Carville told the reporters
Aching
for health coverage
(
07/05/2004
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- It was after the birth
of Antoinette Rosado's second child that the pain began. It started in her
lower back, a deep tissue ache that left her unable to sit or stand for
long. Soon it radiated out to her hip joints, then to her knees,
shoulders, elbows and hands.
NATIONAL
NEWS
Election 2004
List
of contested states may be growing
(07/05/2004 © Palm
Beach Post)
WASHINGTON --
James Carville ran his hand across the back of his head several times, a
gesture of frustration with the jigsaw puzzle that is a presidential
campaign. 'Democrats always like to talk about how
Colorado
is in play, but I just
don't know,' Carville told the reporters
John
Kerry: Idealistic man on campus to realistic sailor at war -- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/politics/campaign/06JOUR.html
The money game shifts Kerry's way -- http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/07/06/the_money_game_shifts_kerrys_way/
Kerry
aides make plans for No. 2 --
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/politics/campaign/06veep.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29635-2004Jul5.html
Who is John Edwards (excerpts from an interview with Peter Jennings)
-- http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Politics/Who_Is_John_Edwards_040706.html
Business elite vows to take on Kerry if he taps Edwards (a report in The
Wall Street Journal that they thought was so important that they're giving
it away for free) -- http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB108906847567455577,00.html?mod=todays%5Ffree%5Ffeature
Bush campaign sees an opportunity for attack in Kerry's overtures to
John McCain -- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/politics/campaign/06bush.html
Bush campaign expects Kerry surge -- http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/election/0604nation/06veep.html
New strides in presidential stagecraft -- http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-stagecraft6jul06,1,3711660.story?coll=la-headlines-elect2004
Parties race to register new voters -- http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2004/07/06/parties_race_to_register_new_voters/
Ground war (a look at ACT) --
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29645-2004Jul5.html
Accommodating the protesters --
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/06/opinion/06TUE2.html
Fighting
for the right to organize
Puts
& Calls: Workers rights to unionize in jeopardy
Pittsburgh
Post Gazette
Choose
unions
The Witchita Eagle
7/3/2004
More
union elections are going labor's way
Kansas
City
Star
7/6/2004
The
Worker: Bush administration’s silent war on labor assistance continues
Post-Crescent (WI)
7/4/2004
The
Bush Economy
The
Worker: Bush administration’s silent war on labor assistance continues
Post-Crescent (WI)
7/4/2004
Workers
angry at pay gap with execs
Detroit
News
7/4/2004
U.S.
Job Growth for June Shows Steep Slowdown
New York
Times
7/3/2004
Bye-Bye,
Bush Boom (Op-Ed)
New York
Times
7/6/2004
Service
base drives June's job growth
USA
Today
7/6/2004
It's
the Economy, Right? Guess Again
New York
Times
7/4/2004
If you have
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information you would like to see posted please contact our communications
director at (850) 224 – 6926 or at rtemplin@flaflcio.org.
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