10/17/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 6,536
Year to date: 124,303
STATE
NEWS
Here
Comes Special Session “E”
By now
everyone is ware that Governor Jeb Bush has convened the 5th
Legislative Special Session of the year.
The purpose of this session is to allocate approximately $500
million in federal money for “economic stimulus.”
The centerpiece of this deal is $310 million allocation to
establish the Scripps Florida Funding Company.
This corporation will work to purchase the land, build the
facilities, buy the equipment and hire the staff to create a new
Florida
branch of the Scripps
Biomedical Research Company. In
2011, all of this will be handed over to Scripps who will then own it.
The stated goal is job creation and current estimates indicate
that between 500 and 600 jobs will be created in the next year and that
several thousand could be created by 2011.
This of course would be a good thing.
BUT, studies have shown that these types of corporate welfare
deals rarely, if ever, do anything but rob state coffers with little
pay-off for the public. Also,
there has been no convincing argument that public works projects to
enhance
Florida
’s own infrastructure could
not have been undertaken to both create jobs and provide an immediate
benefit to the taxpayers. The
Florida AFL-CIO and United Labor Lobby are currently researching this
deal with some help from several national policy organizations so that
we can develop a position that is in the best interests of
Florida
’s working families.
This session and this issue will move fast so please keep an eye
out for “Legislative Alerts” on this issue and be ready to act
quickly. Below are some
articles on the issue, most are very positive.
However, it should be noted that this issue is moving fast and
very little in the way of specifics have been released by the
Governor’s office. Most of the press has not had a chance to really
examine the deal. We will
send updates on this critical issue as soon as we get more information.
"So
the surest way to brighten the state's economic outlook is to bolster
its education system. Unfortunately, lawmakers more interested in their
political careers than in
Florida
's
future welfare are shortchanging education, especially higher education.
Because of budget cuts, community colleges now can no longer accept
every student seeking a degree. Universities must turn away qualified
students and have cut academic programs. This year state universities
had to take in more than 16,000 unfunded students. Lawmakers not only
failed to pay for growth, but also cut university funding by $40
million. The state scholarship program is endangered, and Gov. Bush has
even sought to demolish the state library system. Business leaders have
reason to question whether a state so indifferent to education is really
serious about economic development."
--
Tampa
Tribune editorial. http://tampatrib.com/News/MGARHU1VTLD.html
"As
they consider whether to set aside $500 million on the Scripps Research
Institute deal and other incentives next week, lawmakers must
acknowledge the cost of neglecting other state priorities, especially in
the areas of education and children's health care. This year's budget
failed to fund growth in public schools and universities, the engines
that drive economic development from within the state. Instead of
fueling that growth, the state has kept schools on a starvation diet --
and the sorry condition of the educational system has become a serious
barrier when recruiting companies to relocate here. It's hard to put a
price tag on that loss, but impossible to deny it."
--
Daytona
Beach
News-Journal editorial.
http://www.n-jcenter.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/03OpOPN02101703.htm
Others
are raising questions about the Scripps deal as well:
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/101703/Opinion/ST001.shtml
"It's
an odd -- and embarrassing -- situation in
Tallahassee
.
While Gov. Bush seeks to draw a high-tech research institute to
Florida
with a huge financial package, universities are asking for money (a more
modest amount) to provide the education those employees of tomorrow will
need. Somewhere along the line, maybe someone in
Tallahassee
will connect the two."
--
Lakeland
Ledger editorial.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031015/NEWS/310150307/1036/EDIT|
Tallahassee
Democrat:
King: Scripps must not take money and run
Senate
president supports plan but seeks assurances
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/local/7024252.htm
If
Fla. gets lab, who gets the jobs?
(
10/17/2003
© St.
Petersburg Times)
If
Florida
gives the
Scripps Research Institute $310-million to open a campus in
Palm Beach
County
, should
Florida
residents
get first crack at the job openings there? Given that salaries at the
biotech center would range from an average of $40,000 for a research
associate to $175,000 for a full professor, it's no minor question. It's
also one of several issues Gov. Jeb Bush and stat
Bush
begins Scripps dealing
(
10/17/2003
© Bradenton
Herald)
A
cautionary note
(
10/16/2003
© Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
Bush
creates Scripps puzzler
(10/17/2003 © Palm Beach Post)
TALLAHASSEE
-- Gov. Jeb Bush inadvertently raised new questions Thursday night about
his proposal to spend $310 million luring the Scripps Research Institute
to Palm Beach County -- including the revelation of a previously unknown
involvement by giant homebuilder Lennar
Corp. Bush's office releas...
Palm Beach
Post:
Florida
Senate has
questions about big grant for Scripps
Thursday,
October 16, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3e8c18174ba81091060.html
Tampa
Tribune:
State's Growth In Service Jobs And Skimpy
Education Funding
Published:
Oct
16, 2003
http://tampatrib.com/News/MGARHU1VTLD.html
Gov. Bush:
Gainesville
Sun:
Florida
's new
frontier
Jeb Bush is the governor of
Florida
.
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031014/EDITORIALS0101/31013017/-1/EDITORIALS
AP:
Palm Beach
County
approves $200
million in bonds to lure biotech firm
Wednesday,
October 15, 2003
By MIKE BRANOM, Associated Press
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/10/florida/e34190a.htm
St. Pete Times:
Palm Beach
jumps on
Scripps deal quickly
In just an hour, the county pledges $60-million more to the biomedical
deal than was expected. But concerns remain.
By
STEVE BOUSQUET and ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writers
Published
October
15, 2003
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/15/State/Palm_Beach_jumps_on_S.shtml
Palm Beach
Post: Area
developers jockey to lure research center
By Paul Owers,
Palm
Beach
Post Staff Writer
Wednesday,
October 15, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3c80b7f74ba02930027.html
Palm Beach
Post:
Central
Florida
groups on
board
By Phil Galewitz,
Palm
Beach
Post Staff Writer
Wednesday,
October 15, 2003
ORLANDO
-- Civic leaders here didn't hide their disappointment Tuesday at losing
out to
Palm
Beach
County
in the high-stakes battle to become home to an
East Coast headquarters for Scripps Research Institute.
Thursday, October 9
• FAU, top biotech group to team
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3c81b6274ba326c0047.html?
urac=n&urvf=10662266758990.09753414412543115
Florida
’s
Edison
Bailout Moves Forward
Despite mounting evidence that the proposed deal to use
Florida’s retirement fund to buy a controlling interest in Edison
Schools, a troubled school privatization company, is a bad investment,
the Governor and Cabinet seem determined to move forward.
Repeated attempts by FEA and Florida AFL-CIO leaders to address
the Cabinet have been rebuffed. On
Tuesday; FEA, AFT and the Florida AFL-CIO held a press conference to
call attention to the impending bailout.
Below is a copy of a press statement by President Hall as well as
some news clips about the deal.
"Rather
than accuse Florida's public employees of playing 'hardball politics,'
or citing anonymous 'analysts' who allegedly think Edison is finally on
its way to profitability, the Press
Journal should be holding those in power accountable for
decisions that put their own interests ahead of the interests of
taxpayers.
Liberty
Partners is an underperforming manager with no experience in education
investing, and Edison Schools is a company that has lost money every
year of its existence. We worry that if this deal goes through, before
too long, Florida taxpayers and public employees will wish the trustees
of the State Board had been much more 'persnickety' with their
money."
--
Karen Twitchell, president of the
Indian
River
County Education Association, in a letter to The
Vero
Beach
Press Journal.
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/pj_letters/article/0,1651,TCP_1126_2344215,00.html
Capitol
News Service
http://www.flanews.com/news7.html
Two
ways to view state s investment in Edison
(10/17/2003 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
If
I were an under-appreciated teacher who'd spent his career in an underfunded
public school, I'd probably be as outraged as unions for teachers and
public employees are over the State Board of Administration's
planned investment in Edison Schools.
Edison
is
America
's
most widely known private, ...
The
following is a statement by Florida AFL-CIO President Cindy Hall,
delivered by AFL-CIO spokesperson Rich Templin regarding the recent
decision by the
Florida
Retirement System Board of Administration to invest $180 million dollars
from the retirement fund in Edison Schools.
During the past five years the people of
Florida
have been preached to by this
administration about fiscal conservatism, accountability and common
sense solutions to our state’s problems.
The recent decision by the Florida Retirement System Board of
Administration to purchase a controlling interest in Edison Schools Inc.
is not fiscally conservative, provides no accountability to the voters
and makes no common sense. All
the evidence presented regarding
Edison
incontrovertibly shows that
this is a failing company, one that has not been able to survive the
free market and generate a profit for its shareholders.
Millions of Floridians invest their hard earned money in the
stock market everyday. If
you asked them to invest their money in a company that has never shown a
profit and that is struggling to survive, they would answer with a
resounding no. The basics
of the market are not complicated. People invest their money in
companies that are growing, companies that are making money, in the
hopes that their interests in the company will in turn make them money.
The decision to invest $180 million in
Edison
is an affront to that basic
common sense; it represents a clear and egregious example of fiscal
mismanagement on the part of the Bush administration.
The obvious folly of this deal begs the question…why is this
being done? We believe the
answer is abundantly clear. This
is not an investment at all. It
is a political gift, a bailout designed to save a company and an
ideology that favors the dismantling of our public schools in the
interests of for profit companies.
We should not be surprised by this use of
Florida
’s retirement system for
political purposes; it has been done before.
In 2001 as investors realized that the Enron scandal would mean
certain doom for the company and began dumping their stock,
Florida
’s retirement system
continued to buy Enron stock. This
cost
Florida
’s public sector workers over
$335 million when the company finally collapsed.
The question was asked then, why was this done?
As we all now know, the New York Times reported in January of
2002 that the investment firm managing the fund had direct ties to Enron
and that in the weeks leading up to the collapse, Jeb Bush attended a
fund raiser a the home of a former Enron CEO where he accepted “lavish
donations” for his reelection. The
purchases were made to help delay the company’s inevitable failure and
help the biggest power brokers to make more money.
The
Edison
bailout is no different.
It represents an unconscionable misuse of the people’s money.
It is a blatant attempt to save the poster child for school
privatization from the same market forces that Jeb Bush and the
Republican Party have repeatedly said would save public education.
It is a last ditch effort to rescue an ideology of privatization
that has never and will never work.
This bailout ignores the principles of accountability, fiscal
conservatism and common sense that the Republicans claim to be the
cornerstone of their party. Most
importantly, it is an insult to the thousands of Floridians who have
given a lifetime of service to the people of our state.
It places their financial futures at risk in the name of politics
and ideology. The Florida
AFL-CIO and the half-million workers we represent call on the Governor,
the Cabinet and the Florida Legislature to intervene and stop this
misguided venture now before it is too late.
Still
think there was no connection between the Bushes and
California
Coup?
Ripped off
(
10/17/2003
© Florida
Today)
Guess
where some of
Florida
's
taxpayer dollars are headed? To
California
to help Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger figure out the state's fiscal mess.
They're going with Donna Arduin --
Florida
's
budget director since her January 1999 appointment by Gov. Jeb Bush --
as she takes a leave of absence to h...
Education
St. Pete Times: School officials wary of charter firms
A
pair of related companies have
applied to run 19 charter schools in
Florida
.
The size of the request has stirred concerns among educators.
Published
October
15, 2003
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/15/State/School_officials_wary.shtml
St. Pete Times: Charter schools get tips on how to succeed
At a workshop, charter school representatives get advice on how to
flourish and stay focused now that the novelty has worn off.
Published
October
16, 2003
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/16/State/Charter_schools_get_t.shtml
Tampa
Tribune:
Funding Imperils Enrolling At USF
Published:
Oct
16, 2003
http://www.tampatrib.com/FloridaMetro/MGAULXV5ULD.html
Palm Beach
Post: Cut off
voucher money to all religious schools
Palm
Beach
Post Editorial
Thursday,
October 16, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/opinion_f3d83dd674baf121003d.html
Gainesville
Sun: Help for
higher education
The Legislature needs to address the lack of university funding for new
students at the next special session.
http://www.gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031016/EDITORIALS/31016003
Miami
Herald: Boyd
abandons Senate bid
U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd of
Monticello
leaves the field of five Democrats waiting to see if Bob Graham vacates
his Senate seat.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7014394.htm
McCollum
Points to Years of Service
(10/17/2003 © Lakeland
Ledger)
LAKELAND
-- Bill McCollum said he wasn't planning to get back into politics, but
the events of Sept. 11, 2001, changed his mind. The terrorist attacks
that day and subsequent fighting in
Afghanistan
and
Iraq
have changed the political landscape for 2004.
'National security was not even visible...
FSU
Faculty regain a Voice at Work! (From
the AFL-CIO Work in Progress)
REGAINING TENURE--An overwhelming majority of 1,500 faculty members at
Florida State University (FSU) on Oct. 8 voted to certify the United
Faculty of Florida, a joint AFT and NEA affiliate, to represent
professors and professional employees in contract negotiations with the
university's trustees. The union has represented the employees for
years, but Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and the legislature reorganized the higher
education system last year, forcing each campus chapter to recertify the
union.
Privatization
Isn’t this the 3rd private deal for child
support collections and weren’t the last two HUGE failures.
AP: Contract to improve
Florida
child support
collections signed
Wednesday,
October 15, 2003
http://www.naplesnews.com/03/10/florida/e34191a.htm
BUSH
PRIVATIZATION, JOBS CLAIMS DISPROVED--The Bush administration's claim
that privatizing government jobs would save an average of 10 percent to
40 percent of current costs is not supported by the evidence, according
to "Show Me the Money," a new report by the nonprofit Economic
Policy Institute (EPI). "The administration may be willfully
misreading the research or engaging in some wishful thinking, but
there's no question that the facts do not lead where the administration
says they do," said EPI economist Max Sawicky.
To read the report, visit http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/briefingpapers_bp145
.
Meanwhile,
the institute's new website, JobWatch, http://www.jobwatch.org
, reports the Bush tax cuts are not creating the number of jobs the
White House said they would. While the administration promised the cuts
would generate 344,000 new jobs a month, beginning in July, JobWatch
reports the number of actual jobs created falls 672,000 short of the
administration's projections.
Seniors
need health care reform…NOW!
The
New York
Times
10/16/03
Water Wars Heat Up – Public not willing to give in to developers and
“Gang of 100”
Palm Beach
Post:
Lawmakers, residents reject idea of creating statewide water system
Wednesday,
October 15, 2003
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/auto/epaper/editions/wednesday/local_news_
f3c86b2c74ba613f00a8.html;COXnetJSessionID=1NNWjXQYxjOh2OyBmKi1VBXZqUWXKKAIw714kbu
ThOVDnxxgD3kz!-481024149?urac=n&urvf=10662251101350.2797658454593511
Offshore
drilling back on the table
Didn’t Jeb promise that he had dealt with this right before the
election last year?
Drilling
foes see plans as threat
(10/17/2003 © Miami
Herald)
The
long black stain stretched down the beach Thursday morning in front of
the 10th Street lifeguard tower on Miami Beach. A sign proclaiming
''Danger, Oil Spill'' stood at one edge. Suddenly, a stiff wind kicked
up, and the 20-by-20-foot sheet of black plastic lifted off the beach
and took flight. This oil spill -- set up by Florida Public Interest
Research Group -- was blowing away.
AP: House GOP proposal would open coastal waters to oil, gas drilling
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/7017466.htm
MIscelleneous
political stuff
News
Coast
: More
fund-raising in secret
Some
legislators are still withholding the names of contributors to fund-
raising committees.
http://www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031016/NEWS/310160327/1017/POLITICShttp:
//www.newscoast.com/apps/pbcs.
dll/article?AID=/20031016/NEWS/310160327/1017/POLITICS
LA
billionaire backing Clark
Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette
10/15/03
Bush
visits California, raises funds
San Francisco
Chronicle
10/16/03
In
Races With One Deep Pocket, the Law Tries to
Tailor a
Second
Candidates facing rich opponents can use a little-known provision in the
campaign finance law that
allows them to break federal contribution limits.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/17/national/17MILL.html?th
Unions
Backing Gephardt Band Together
AP
10/16/03
New
labor alliance looks to help Gephardt
10/17/03
Dean
Says Economic Priorities Are Jobs and a Tax Overhaul
The
New York
Times
10/17/03
Dean:
Hope is source of his anger
USA
Today
10/17/03
George
Bush’s America
The Sweet Spot
Anyone who wants to fight President Bush's tax cuts will
have to
frame their proposals in a way that neutralizes
some of
the administration's demagoguery.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/17/opinion/17KRUG.html?th
Grocery
Workers Take it to the Streets
GROCERY
WORKERS STRIKE--Fighting
for fair health care benefits, UFCW members in five states struck
several grocery store chains. In central and southern
California
, workers
walked out at Vons grocery stores on Oct. 11. The Albertsons and Ralphs
grocery chains then locked out workers, putting 70,000 workers on the
picket line. The supermarket chains, which are negotiating jointly, are
demanding workers pay higher premiums for health insurance and accept
reduced pension benefits. The workers rejected the companies' last
offer. The current contracts expired Oct. 5. To e-mail the grocery
chains in support of the strikers, visit http://www.saveourhealthcare.org
. Meanwhile, 10,000 UFCW members in
St. Louis
walked out
Oct. 7 after rejecting the contract offer by three grocery chains--Shop
'n Save Warehouse, Schnuck Markets and Dierbergs
Markets. Another 3,300 members of Local 400 in
West Virginia
,
Ohio
and
Kentucky
struck Kroger
Co., the nation's largest grocery chain, on Oct. 13.
Feels
like a people's war is brewing
LA Times
10/17/03
Allies
Rally Behind Grocery Union
LA Times
10/16/03
We
all lose if supermarket workers are sacked
Arizona
Republic
10/16/03
Teamsters
Union Expand Support of Striking Gorcery
Workers
KABC-TV ABC 7
Los Angeles
As
do transit workers
Deputies, Bus Drivers Add to Labor Unrest
The
Washington
Post
10/16/03
L.A.'s
Transit System Takes Another Hit
KABC-TV ABC 7
Los Angeles
Finally,
an Asbestos agreement?
Labor
Condemns Asbestos Fund Offer from Business
The
New York
Times
10/17/03
Agreement
Reached on Asbestos Bill
The
New York
Times
10/16/03
Accord
Reached on Asbestos Fund: Manufacturers, Insurers Accept Plan
The
Washington
Post
10/16/03
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
