|
9/16/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 2,702
Year to date: 112,728
OK,
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING!
After
our victory last week in the U.S. Senate, efforts to block President
Bush's overtime pay take-away turn to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Your representative will vote soon on this important issue. The future of
overtime pay and protections for millions of working families is in danger
without a House victory. Please take one minute right now to send a fax to
your representative from the AFL-CIO website by clicking on the link
below. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/xiuz153mt
Following
our victory last week, business groups and big corporations are stepping
up their lobbying. One Washington, D.C. law firm that works for employers
summarized the Bush overtime take-away by saying, "...virtually all
of these changes should ultimately be beneficial to employers." Not a
big surprise. But we can beat their corporate power with our people power.
Act now: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/xiuz153mt
Over
the past six months, tens of thousands of people like you have joined
together to protect overtime pay, the 40-hour workweek and the weekend.
Together, we have stopped some bad legislation and now we have to stop the
Bush administration attack on overtime by keeping the heat on our
representatives. The two most important ways to do this are (1) speak out
by contacting your representative and (2) ask your friends, family and
co-workers to contact their representatives as well. Click below to send a
fax to your representative. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/xiuz153mt
Please
also tell your friends, family and co-workers about this issue by clicking
below. http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/houseotvote/forward/xiuz153mt
Overtime
Pay News from the AFL-CIO
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/N11S1aF1r1aW/
Protect
workers' right to overtime
The
Miami
Herald 9/15
COMMENT:
Overtime plan would cheat workers out of needed pay
Detroit
Free Press 9/15
Some
Yale Replacement Workers Quit To Join Strikers
Hartford
Courant 9/13
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
Tax
reform?
McKay
Won t Stop Being Legislative Boat Rocker
(
09/15/2003
© Tampa
Tribune)
TALLAHASSEE
- The trim,
well-dressed man moved slowly across the floor of the state Senate,
greeting old comrades with handshakes, shoulder rubs and a wolfish grin.
The senators were ready for a respite from their summerlong
battle with the House over changes to the medical malpractice system. Fro...
Taxing
Pursuit
(09/15/2003 © Tampa
Tribune)
Republican Sen.
John McKay took on Florida's most powerful business lobbies and defied the
leave-it-be wishes of Gov. Jeb Bush and other Republican leaders. After
losing the bloody legislative battle last year over his desire to revamp
Florida
's loophole- riddled
sales tax code, McKay disappeared fr...
The
Legislature
Byrd
and Pruitt led chambers in 03
(09/15/2003 © Miami
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and Senate budget chairman Ken Pruitt
finished first in The Herald's annual ranking of 160 state legislators,
reflecting their leading roles in a continuing and fierce ideological
battle over spending taxpayer money. Senate President Jim King place...
Prescription Drugs –
the Bush Medicare Scam
The Following is a press release issued by the
Florida
AFL-CIO,
Florida
Alliance
for Retired Americans, FCAN and SEIU.
A copy of the referenced report can be found online at www.flaflcio.org.
TALLAHASSEE
– The
Florida Consumer Action Network (FCAN), Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) Florida State Council, Florida AFL-CIO, The
Florida Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), The Florida
NAACP and The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans (FLARA) jointly
released a study today which details the effects of pending national
Medicare legislation on the people of
Florida
.
The coalition hopes that the report titled, The
Impact of Medicare Reforms on Floridians will serve as a warning for
Florida
seniors, low income
beneficiaries, and people with disabilities about the legislation.
The report illustrates that if President Bush's Medicare
Prescription Drug plan passes, they will pay more for the new prescription
drug benefit than they pay for prescription drugs right now.
Susie
Caplowe, spokesperson for Florida Consumer
Action Network said, “
Florida
's seniors, low-income
beneficiaries and people with disabilities need to know that the current
Bush Medicare prescription drug plan is not what he says it is.
He says it will lower their costs of prescription drugs and provide
better services, but the reality is, it will cost them
more to purchase their medications and services.”
She continued, "I recall during the 2000 election propaganda,
the President's mother told seniors over and over again that her son would
never do anything to hurt people their age. What she really meant was
the people in her circle, members of Congress and the wealthiest who
benefited from her son's tax cuts who can already afford to buy the best
health care. Members of Congress and retired elected officials, receive
the best healthcare that our tax dollars can buy.
Florida
citizens should expect
no less” she said.
The
Florida
report, prepared for
FCAN by USAction a national organization for
consumer rights, healthcare and social justice, indicates that the
proposed Medicare Prescription Drug bill will:
- Coerce
seniors into leaving Medicare to enroll in HMOs and private plans;
- Force
seniors to leave their current doctors;
- Force
them into private companies by mandating they pay higher premiums if
they choose to stay in the current Medicare program;
- Force
some seniors and people with disabilities to pay more for their
medication;
- Provide
economic incentives for employers to drop coverage for retirees;
- Increase
the cost of premiums, deductibles, and co-payments under a NEW and
confusing MEDICARE PART D in order to provide the so called
"lower cost" of prescription drug benefits.
- Leaves
tens of thousands of seniors without any prescription drug coverage
under Medicare.
Dale
Ewart, President of SEIU, Florida State
Council, the state’s largest union of health care workers and support
professionals stated, "Instead of providing the affordable
prescription drug coverage seniors have been promised, the Bush Medicare
drug plan puts private insurance companies and HMOs in charge."
Anita Davis, a spokesperson for the Tallahassee Chapter of the NAACP
said, "We need to keep people informed. I have a lot of friends on
Medicare and any changes that negatively affect the care of persons who
are seniors, low-income beneficiaries or disabled is a top priority for
us. This is a bad bill. There are too many loopholes that are detrimental
to the people we care for. This
bill will put the people who need help the most in harm’s way."
Karen Woodall, a lobbyist for
Florida
NOW spoke about the
serious deficiencies in
Florida
’s prescription drug
benefit passed earlier this year and the need for a real federal solution.
She said, “
Florida
’s Senior Citizens
need meaningful, comprehensive coverage for prescription drugs under
Medicare. While the Governor
and state Legislators like to brag about
Florida
’s "LifeSaverRX"
program, a careful look shows that the state program is full of holes.
She continued, "It's true they added limited, minimal coverage
to more people than the tarnished Silver Saver Program from 2002, but they
did nothing to restore coverage to thousands of economically disadvantaged
seniors who lost full prescription drug coverage under Medicaid due to the
rollback on eligibility levels. Individual
states are never going to do the right thing.
Medicare is a tried and true federal program that needs to be
strengthened and expanded to include full prescription drug coverage for
all senior citizens and the drug industry needs to pay by reducing their
profit margins to a fair and equitable level” she said.
The
coalition pointed out that the real reason a comprehensive fix to the
prescription drug crisis has not been adopted can be traced back to the
massive campaign contributions made by the PhRMA
member pharmaceutical companies to candidates from both political parties.
Republicans received a total of $534,546 dollars and Democrats
pulled in over $32,567.00 from 1991 to 2002. Republican candidates
received the lion’s share due to the fact that they control the
legislative process both in
Florida
and at the national
level. One of the top
Republican recipients was Congressman Michael Bilirakis who is on the
Medicare Rx conference committee. He received $151,560 from the PhRMA
pharmaceutical industry. (For
a complete listing of the
Florida
delegation
see the attached chart)
According
to Barbara DeVane, Secretary of the Florida
Alliance for Retired Americans, "Several independent surveys have
been released in the past few weeks indicating growing dissatisfaction
with the Medicare Prescription Drug legislation currently being considered
by Congress. Moreover, there is a growing consensus that Congress should
oppose the current legislation, even if it takes years to pass a more
generous prescription benefit."
A
Gallup Survey for CNN and USA Today conducted on August 25th and 26th,
finds that, 76% of the people surveyed believe that the new Medicare bills
being considered by Congress would not do enough to help senior citizens
pay the high cost of prescription drugs.
In
recent weeks, groups like FLARA, SEIU, FCAN, ACORN and the Florida AFL-CIO
have held many high profile rallies and town-hall meetings on the issue.
Thousands of seniors and lower income workers have attended to
demand that Congress scrap President Bush’s proposal and begin work on a
new Medicare reform plan that will adequately address the prescription
drug crisis.
Barbara
DeVane said, "Seniors
are in the streets spreading the word about this bad bill in
Washington
.
Seniors in
Florida
will not be fooled by
the 30 second TV ads and phone calls from Barbara Bush this time” she
said.
Cynthia
Hall, President of the 500,000 member Florida AFL-CIO said, “The
prescription drug crisis is having an impact on all workers in
Florida
.
As the cost of these drugs continues to skyrocket, employers are
dropping health care coverage and eliminating coverage for retirees.
This will eliminate preventative care, force people into the
emergency rooms and will drive up health care costs for all Floridians.
She continued, “The workers of
Florida
desperately need the
politicians in
Washington
and in
Tallahassee
to get out from under
the thumb of the drug companies and do the right thing.”
Retirees
Alarmed at Threat of Cuts in Drug Benefits
By
ROBERT PEAR
Lawmakers
are hearing complaints from retirees who fear
losing
drug benefits they already have from former
employers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/politics/16MEDI.html?th
Illinois
governor to buy medicines from Canada
(09/15/2003 © Palm
Beach Post)
Facing
budget-breaking increases in prescription drug bills, the governor of
Illinois took the first step Sunday toward purchasing lower-cost
medications from Canada, a move that puts him in direct conflict with
federal regulators and signals a dramatic escalation in the civil war over
U.S. drug...
Protecting
drug company profits
(
09/15/2003
© St.
Petersburg Times)
As
Congress casts about to create a prescription drug benefit for Medicare
recipients, it is ignoring a successful program already run by the federal
government. The Department of Veterans Affairs found a way to buy drugs at
substantially reduced costs and make them available to millions of
veterans...
Education
Florida
leaders failing children
(
09/15/2003
© Florida
Today)
Something
is amiss in the state of
Florida
. Our state's public
schools are doing better than ever in educating our children and giving
them the opportunity to succeed in life. But once again this year, our
state's leaders have forced many schools to continue a three-year trend of
program cut...
3-year
plan lures marginal students
(09/15/2003 © Miami
Herald)
A new plan to
help top students finish high school in three years is proving more
popular with marginal students who just want to get high school over with.
The Legislature this spring created the three-year graduation option as a
way to reduce class size, touting it as a fast track for students
...
Editorial:
Education loses again
(
09/15/2003
© Stuart
News)
The
only reason
Florida
has a lottery today is
because 17 years ago voters wanted more money for education. That was the
campaign promise - after winners were paid, a little would go to promote
the lottery, a lot would go to enhance
education. But, from Day One the promise was broken. For th...
Fast
track to nowhere
(09/16/2003 © St.
Petersburg Times)
The Florida
Legislature, in its finite wisdom, decided earlier this year that
Florida's high school students don't necessarily need four years of
education. So they passed a law that forces school districts to let
students lop off their senior year and still graduate. The move was so
unusual that...
The
California
Coup
Clinton, a
Davis
Ally, Tries to
Provide Boost
Bill Clinton is the first of a parade of national
Democratic figures who will be in
California
this week to
fight the
recall.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/national/15DAVI.html?th
New
Twist in Recall Brings Anger From Right
For a day at least, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
replaced
Gov. Gray Davis as the Republican Party's punching bag.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/national/16SCEN.html?th
Delaying
the
California
Recall
The federal appeals court that put off
California
's gubernatorial
recall did the right thing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/opinion/16TUE2.html?th
Bush’s
America
As
Factory Jobs Disappear, Workers Have Few Options
The New York Times 9/13
'Betrayal'
of working poor examined Low-pay job cycle proves hard to live with, break
USA
Today 9/15
Middle
class barely treads water
USA
Today 9/15/
Election
2004
Mark
Shields: Will labor rescue Gephardt?
CNN
Graham
unfazed by low ratings
(09/15/2003 © Bradenton
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
About 100 people turned out for a recent Bob Graham fund-raiser near the
state Capitol, where the presidential hopeful served as governor and
lawmaker for more than a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. The inside of the
Governor's Club, a private hangout for lobbyists and politicians, l...
As
Graham campaign struggles, candidate comfortable coming from behind
(
09/15/2003
© Gainesville
Sun)
About
100 people turned out for a recent Bob Graham fund-raiser near the state
Capitol, where the presidential hopeful served as governor and lawmaker
for more than a decade in the 1970s and 1980s. The inside of the Gov.'s
Club, a private hangout for lobbyists and politicians, looked more like a
Yale
strike heats up!
AFL-CIO
Chief Arrested at Yale Protest
AP 9/13
Labor
Leaders Arrested at Rally for Yale University Strikers
The New York Times 9/13
Photos
of Yale Rally
Yahoo News 9/13
More
on some recent wins
Congress
Gives Labor Rare Victories
AP 9/13
HOUSE
SLOWS BUSH
ATTACK
ON
FED
WORKERS--President Bush's drive to turn some 800,000 federal jobs and the
services they provide over to private corporations hit a roadblock Sept. 9
when the House voted to kill new rules that would have made it easier to
privatize the government work.
The 220-198 vote was on an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Treasury and
Transportation departments appropriations bill.
In addition, the House voted to restore the full 4.1 percent pay raise for
federal workers that Bush cut by more than half in August.
FTAA
takes center stage at LaborFest
BIG
VOICE FOR MANUFACTURING--Thousands of the more than 30,000 people
attending the annual LaborFest celebration in
Detroit
Sept. 13 showed
their opposition to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by
signing a 7-foot by 100-foot postcard urging Congress and the Bush
administration to stop the flawed trade deal. The card will be delivered
in a special U.S. Postal Service truck to
Washington
,
D.C.
, and presented
to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). The
card-signing kicked off the AFL-CIO's Campaign for American Manufacturing,
which spotlights the crisis in manufacturing. More than 2.5 million
manufacturing jobs have been lost since President George W. Bush took
office. The federation's industrial unions have called for changes in the
nation's trade, tax and labor laws to promote workers' rights and save
domestic manufacturing jobs. Future campaign events are planned in a dozen
cities, including
Cincinnati
,
Cleveland
and
Dayton
,
Ohio
;
Milwaukee
;
Philadelphia
;
Pittsburgh
; and
St. Louis
. For more
information, contact your local labor council. Working families throughout
the hemisphere oppose the FTAA because it would expand the flawed policies
of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has led to massive job
losses in the
United States
and has not
sparked promised economic growth in
Mexico
. Working
families will deliver millions of postcards to the hemispheric trade
ministers meeting in November in
Miami
. For more
information and to download a ballot to stop FTAA, visit www.aflcio.org/issuespolitics/globaleconomy/ftaamain.cfm
.
LaborFest
draws union supporters
Detroit
News
9/14/03
Florida’s
House of Labor gets ready for the FTAA in Miami
AFL-CIO:
Here's why we'll protest FTAA
Miami
Herald 9/15
Rich-Poor
Rift Triggers Collapse of Trade Talks
The
Washington
Post
9/15/03
Freedom
Ride 2003
Freedom Ride
KTLA-TV WB 5
Los Angeles
9/14
Activists
take to road for immigration reform
Rocky Mountain News 9/15
Insurance
gets their way in
Texas
…are
we next?
Medical
malpractice law OK d
(
09/15/2003
© Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
HOUSTON
· The
doctors beat the lawyers Saturday as
Texas
voters narrowly
approved a constitutional amendment limiting medical malpractice awards.
The final results came in early Sunday morning. The measure, Proposition
12 -- one of 22 amendments that all won voter approval -- was supported
by...
Doctors
want malpractice amendment
(09/16/2003 © Charlotte
Sun Herald)
Despite a a
medical malpractice reform bill passed by the state Legislature last
month, high insurance rates are still causing physicians and surgeons to
flee Charlotte County and Florida in droves, a local physician said
Monday. The 'fine print' in the bill means that insurance companies who...
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 |
