9/12/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 2,233
Year to date: 110,026
Labor
Day Clips and News
The
AFL-CIO, State Federations and local unions did an incredible job
spreading the working family message this Labor Day.
There were Editorials, OP-Eds and
news stories in almost every single major newspapers
and many of the smaller papers. Consequently,
there is a huge volume of online clips.
In order to keep the E Messenger at a manageable size we are
placing those clips on our website.
Check out www.flaflcio.org
and you can browse through the clips at your leisure.
Don’t
Miss the
Labor
School
at this month’s convention!
Union
Leader Workshop
September 20, 2003
8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
This workshop will be presented in conjunction with the Florida
AFL-CIO 2003 Convention, Jacksonville It will
be in the St. Johns Ballroom at the Hilton Riverfront Hotel.
Unions need to build power within their
communities. This workshop
will help you to
build on your successes and increase your power base to more
effectively make decisions impacting the working people in your area.
WHAT WILL YOU GET OUT OF THIS WORKSHOP?
A shared vision with other leaders of
Florida
unions and
CLCs
A tool for analyzing how power operates in your community
An analysis of key relationships within the state labor movement
Ideas and strategies for building power to support our political and
organizing goals
A small workshop fee of $25.00 covers all materials.
To
register for Saturday’s labor school contact Dawn Addy
at:
Center for Labor Research and Studies
Labor
Center
, Rm. 304
University Park
Campus
Florida
International
University
Miami
,
FL
33199
Phone: (305) 348-2371
FAX: (305) 348-2241
e-mail: addyd@fiu.edu
AFL-CIO
scores major victory in the fight to protect overtime
The
United States Senate defended the 40-hour work week and overtime pay
yesterday morning when they voted 54-45 to block President Bush’s
attempts to strip over 8 million workers of their right to collect
overtime pay. The Senate
approved the “Harkin Amendment” to H.R. 2660 the Appropriations Bill
the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and
related agencies for the fiscal year ending
September 30, 2004
.
This
morning’s victory is the culmination of several months work of union
members and friends of labor all over the nation.
Last week, Florida AFL-CIO President Cindy Hall and
Secretary-Treasurer Dwayne Sealy visited
Washington
and urged members of
the Senate to do the right thing and vote for the amendment.
Their efforts coupled with the hundreds of thousands of your
emails, phone calls and letters made all the difference.
Senate
Democrats Block New Rules on Overtime
The
New York
Times
9/11/03
Senate
Opposes White House Rewrite of Overtime Rules
Los Angeles
Times
9/11/03
Miller
Says US Senate Overtime Vote May Sway House
Dow Jones Business News
9/11/03
Democrats
Force Senate Vote on Overtime Pay
The
Washington
Post
9/10/03
Democrats
Set to Vote to Block Bush Overtime Rules
Reuters
9/10/03
But
there is more to do…
Working families win! President Bush's overtime pay cuts suffered a
major setback today when the U.S. Senate voted to block the overtime pay
takeaway. We won this first step because the Senate Democrats and a
handful of Republicans stood up to President Bush. They actedbecause
they heard your voice. Your activism made a big difference--people like
you sent hundreds of thousands of letters, faxes and e-mails and made
tens of thousands of phone calls over the past few months. This victory
is
ONLY ONE STEP forward. More action is needed now. You can act now or
keep reading to learn more. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/xiuap5xd7
Now,
the fight to block President Bush's overtime pay cuts turns to the U.S.
House of Representatives. Representatives will be asked to vote on a
similar measure--preventing the Bush administration from taking away
workers' hard-earned overtime pay protections. Please take one minute
right now to send a fax to your representative, Representative Porter
Goss, from the AFL-CIO website.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/xiuap5xd7
After
you send your fax please click on the link below
to
spread the word to your friends, family and co-workers.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/forward/xiuap5xd7
Also, these links may be of interest.
Overtime
Pay News from the AFL-CIO
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/M11S1aF147a6/
U.S.
Senate Vote
Tally by State from Sept. 10
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/Md1S1aF147aO/
Thanks
for all you do.
The
Florida
House and its dirty Byrd
Silly
ideas: Your inbox and Byrd are full of them
(09/12/2003 © St.
Petersburg Times)
With House
Speaker Johnnie Byrd using Florida's databases of auto tags, state
employees and anything else he can get his hands on, and now that he's
intercepting the e-mails of individual House members to build his own
mailing lists, pretty soon all of our e-mailboxes might look like this: Subje...
He learned from the
best
Delayed
audit has bad news for state
(09/12/2003 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE -
A federal audit that was delayed until after Gov. Jeb Bush's re-election
last year is finished with bad news for Florida: Florida owes the
federal government $267-million for excessive payments Washington made
to the state's pension fund. State officials say fat chance. 'We're
no...
Audit
delayed by Bush shows state owes $267 million
(09/12/2003 © Northwest
Florida Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE
(AP) - A federal audit that was delayed at the request of Gov. Jeb
Bush's office during his reelection campaign found that Florida's public
pension fund owes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $267
million. The department's inspector general's office said the state...
Vouchers, testing, so
much nonsense!
Palm Beach
Post: Private
schools discuss voucher query
Tuesday,
September 9, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3d505fd36c7019100e2.html?urac=n&urvf=10631238773920.5732693291855163
D.C.
School Voucher Bill Passes in House by 1 Vote
The
Washington
Post
9/10/03
Vouchers
Don't Add Up To Real Choice
The
Washington
Post
9/11/03
George Bush’s America
LOOKING
FOR JOBS--The
U.S.
economy lost
93,000 jobs in August, including 44,000 in manufacturing, according to
the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment report released Sept.
5. Since President George W. Bush took office, 3.2 million
private-sector jobs have
been
lost. "Instead of soaking American workers with failed economic
policies that do not create jobs, the president should rebuild America
with investments in what matters most--schools, our health care system
and
the nation's crumbling infrastructure," AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney said. Also on Sept. 5, the Economic Policy Institute launched a
new website--http://www.jobwatch.org—that tracks job and wage trends
and monitors the performance of the Bush administration's 2003 tax cuts
in generating jobs.
Employees
to pay more for health insurance
The
Miami
Herald
9/10/03
Health
Premiums Swell, U.S. Public Worried - Poll
Reuters
9/10/03
Trade
Deficit Grew in July
The
New York
Times
9/12/03
Florida
Election 2004
Palm Beach
Post: Foley
drops bid for Senate seat
Friday, September 5,
2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/news_f385488420f030130019.html
Election
2004
Graham
at bottom of polls in key states
(
09/12/2003
© Miami
Herald)
He's got a
great résumé, gray hair, all over, not just around the temples. He's
the ideal mature, Southern candidate. But something's just not
clicking.' -- Pollster JOHN ZOGBY Despite months of aggressive
campaigning for president, Sen. Bob Graham is stuck at the bottom of the
Democratic p...
Huge
Union Decides to Endorse No One Now
The
New York
Times
9/11/03
Key
union puts off endorsement in Democratic race
Chicago
Tribune
9/11/03
Full
Text of Debate in Baltimore
The
Washington
Post
9/10/03
Dean
and Lieberman tangle in debate
The
Boston
Globe
9/10/03
AP: Presidential visit: Protesters gather at
Fort
Lauderdale
to criticize
Bush on
Iraq
Wednesday, September
10, 2003
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/09/florida/d993344a.htm
Miami
Herald:
Supporters meet president, beef up his campaign fund|
'We have kept
our word,' he says of White House agenda
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/6732097.htm
Nation's
two biggest unions to wait on presidential endorsement
Boston
Globe
9/12/03
Florida
politics
AP: Election 2004: Jeb's job could
affect brother George's presidential
run
Tuesday, September 9,
2003
Associated Press
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/09/florida/d990791a.htm
Court
throws out record Florida campaign fine
(
09/12/2003
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
MIAMI
-- An appeals court
has erased a record $311,000 fine against state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla
and is urging the Legislature to develop a more workable system for
reporting campaign contributions. The Florida Elections Commission fined
Diaz de la Portilla but cleared the
Miami
Republican...
Extra
sessions prove costly for lobbyists
(
09/12/2003
© Tallahassee
Democrat)
If you think
the numerous legislative sessions were expensive for taxpayers this
year, pity the poor lobbyists. In the first six months of 2003 alone,
lobbyists and their clients forked over $6.2 million to, among other
things, wine and dine all those lawmakers who spent an inordinate amount
of t...
Medical
Malpractice…it ain’t over yet
Reaching
too far
(09/12/2003 © Bradenton
Herald)
It's too bad
the Florida Medical Association has decided to try the constitutional
amendment route to give doctors what they didn't get from the
Legislature. This strategy could unleash a backlash that costs the FMA
the high ground it held during the medical malpractice insurance battle
that ended i...
The
global fair trade movement continues to build solidarity
Agriculture
on the Table At Trade Talks in Mexico
The
Washington
Post
9/10/03
Showdown
in Cancún
The
New York
Times
9/10/03
World
group focuses on agricultural subsidies
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
9/11/03
The
California
Coup
Bustamante's
Strategy Goes Left
Los Angeles
Times
9/10/03
Midpoint
offers Davis a last chance
San Francisco
Chronicle
9/10/03
CWA, IBEW, Verizon
reach agreement
VERIZON AGREEMENT--CWA and the Electrical Workers reached
a
tentative five-year agreement with Verizon
Communications Sept. 4 that provides pay raises and job security, key
goals for the workers. CWA also reached a tentative agreement with Verizon
Wireless on Sept. 2 that creates seniority rights for the first time for
some 51 union employees in
New York
. The nearly
80,000 Verizon workers in the Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic are working past an Aug. 2 strike deadline. Workers will
vote on ratification of the agreement over the next month. For
more information, visit http://www.cwa-union.org
and http://www.ibew.org
.
Courts
block new FCC rules
FCC
MEDIA RULES BLOCKED--A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit issued an emergency order Sept. 3 blocking
enforcement of new media ownership rules that media watchdog groups say
would give corporations unprecedented control over information and
entertainment. On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
voted to dramatically weaken long-standing rules limiting the number of
local television, radio and newspaper outlets a corporation can own. The
emergency order means current ownership rules will stay in place until
the courts decide several lawsuits challenging the new rules. The Senate
Appropriations Committee on Sept. 4 unanimously approved legislation
prohibiting the FCC from spending funds to enforce portions of the new
rules. The House passed a similar bill this summer.
Senate
Debates Repeal of F.C.C. Media Ownership Rules
The Senate opened debate on a resolution that would repeal
all of
the new media ownership rules adopted three months
ago by
the Federal Communications Commission.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/business/media/12FCC.html?th
The
privatization of federal workers – an interesting view
Helen Thomas
White House Bureau Chief – Associated Press
Archive 2002
http://www.thewpbfchannel.com/helenthomas/2453058/detail.html>
Wal-Mart
Watch
Wal-Mart
battles against Chinese unions
Financial Times
9/11/03
Wal-Mart sued for labor abuses
St.
Paul Pioneer Press
9/11/03
Freedom
Riders 2003
Labor
urges amnesty for undocumented workers
Boston
Globe
9/11/03
Freedom
Rides to Kick Off
Long Island
Newsday
Big
3, UAW agree on new contracts
USA
Today
9/12/03
Interesting
views from Paul Krugman
Exploiting
the Atrocity
The president's advisers cynically saw 9/11 as an
opportunity
to get everything they wanted. Now it has all
gone wrong.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/12/opinion/12KRUG.html?th
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.
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Rich Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO
