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11/04/03
E
Messenger
The
Electronic Newsletter of the
Florida
AFL-CIO
New
Members according to the AFL-CIO Work in Progress
This week's WIP: 529
Year to date: 128,463
STATE
NEWS
FTAA
Miami
– Its as bad as it gets and its on the way
The national AFL-CIO is spearheading the largest
trade mobilization in the South’s history.
As you read this, tens of thousands of trade unionists from around
the world are making preparations to come to
Miami
to protest the Fair Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Ministerial
meetings, November 19th and 20th.
If you or your local have not yet been plugged in to the
mobilization contact the Florida AFL-CIO and we will get you involved.
E mail Rich Templin at rtemplin@flaflcio.org
or call at (850) 224-6926.
ON
TO MIAMI--Tens of thousands of union members, community allies, workers'
and human rights activists and others are making final preparations for a
massive "March to Miami: Stop the FTAA" to fight the Bush
administration's proposed Free Trade Areas of the Americas agreement (FTAA).
The march and other planned activities Nov. 18-21 coincide with the
Miami
meeting of the
34 trade ministers from the nations in the proposed FTAA. FTAA would
expand to the entire
Western
Hemisphere
(except
Cuba
) the low wages,
lax environmental laws and weak worker protections that flowed from the
North American Free Trade Agreement. For more
information, visit http://www.aflcio.org/stopftaa
or http://www.marchtomiami.org
.
Union
leaders protest summit
Miami
Herald
11/1/03
$8.5M
for event a step away
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Sugar,
citrus at odds with Bush
Miami
Herald
11/03/03
Union
workers rally against trade pact
Chicago
Sun-Times
Michigan's
jobs future rests with touchy trade talks
Detroit
News
11/2/03
New
Global Trade Line-up - Have & Have Nots
The
New York
Times
11/02/03
Florida
Industries Try To Limit Free Trade Agreement
WTVJ-TV NBC 6
Miami
More
on Florida’s Scripps Gamble
Bold
talk greets signing of Scripps deal
(11/04/2003 © Palm
Beach Post)
BOCA RATON --
Gushing politicians Monday praised a new law that will bring the
prestigious Scripps Research Institute to Palm Beach County, boldly
predicting that the landmark legislation will not only deliver prosperity,
it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's -- and even strengthen marriages.
...
County
leaders to visit Scripps
(11/03/2003 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Three weeks after
agreeing to spend up to $200 million to replicate The Scripps Research
Institute's renowned biomedical success in Palm Beach County, county
officials finally will get to see what they're trying to clone. County
leaders Tuesday will head to
La Jolla
,
Calif.
, on a two-day tour of
Scripps and the cluster of biotech companies that sprouted up around it.
The tour group includes fiv
Scripps
Funding Misdirected
(11/03/2003 © Lakeland
Ledger)
How will spending
the Polk County taxpayers' money on a project that will assure Big Brother
George W. Bush Cuban-American votes, plus plenty of jobs for the Palm Beachers,
who really need the economical boost, help Polk County people who need
things such as school teachers and health care? As a
...
Gov.
Bush signs law to give $310 million to biotech firm
(11/04/2003 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
WEST PALM BEACH --
Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law Monday that will guarantee a prestigious
biotech firm's expansion into Florida and possibly help the state develop
a high-tech and high-wage economy. Bush said a Scripps Research Institute
in
Florida
would create
unprecedented economic and educational opportunities and propel the state
to the forefront of biomedical research. State leaders have c
Hey state workers,
teachers, you just became privatizers
Too
good a deal for state pension fund?
(
11/03/2003
© St.
Petersburg Times)
Some Floridians
fret that the state's pension fund may be making a bad investment in
Edison Schools, the controversial private company that operates 150
schools across the country. But that's not everybody's take on the pending
deal. Some current shareholders think the pension fund is making out like
a bandit - at their expense. "We're insulted by the fact that they
want to buy this company
Phone scam slows…for
now
PSC
wants phone rate details
(11/04/2003 © Bradenton
Herald)
TALLAHASSEE -
Regulators sent a strong message Monday that before they consider
approving a hike in local rates, they want long-distance telephone
companies to specify what benefits residential phone customers can expect.
The Public Service Commission, which regulates phone service in
Florida
, rejected a request by
the senior citizens' lobbying group AARP to throw out a petition from the
state
Phone
rate increase is still on the table
(11/04/2003 © Northwest
Florida Daily News)
TALLAHASSEE (AP) -
Regulators sent a strong mes sage Monday that
before they consider approving a hike in local rates, they want long
distance telephone companies to specify what benefits resi
dential phone customers can expect. The Public
Service Commis sion,...
PSC
asks what savings will be
(11/04/2003 © Tallahassee
Democrat)
Public Service
Commission members thwarted efforts Monday to derail a proposed
$355million local phone-rate increase but also criticized phone companies
for not providing information to show that the increase would result in
long-distance savings for Florida residents. "The reality is, I want
to see where the majority of the benefits are," said PSC Chairwoman
Lila J. Jaber, the only commission
Florida
Pre-Paid College
Program
Prepaid
college program chairman upbeat about plan s future
(
11/03/2003
© Palm Beach
Post)
Earlier this year,
Stanley Tate, chairman of the Florida Prepaid College Program, predicted a
dire future for the plan if state legislators didn't act responsibly. Tate
warned that if they raised tuition too high or allowed state universities
to set their own tuitions, the prepaid program m...
Prepaid
college plan enrollment starts
(
11/03/2003
© Florida
Today)
TALLAHASSEE
-- The founder of
Florida
's popular prepaid
college program hopes for another crush of enrollees to aid his fight
against tuition increases. Stanley Tate, chairman of the Florida Prepaid
College Plan, expects at least 100,000 accounts to be opened during the
enrollment period t...
Florida
Politics
Resolution
far away for McBride
(
11/04/2003
© Ocala Star
Banner)
It's been a year
since
Tampa
attorney Bill McBride
was defeated by Gov. Jeb Bush. Yet, the 2004 elections may come and go,
before a case involving McBride, the state's teacher union and the
Republican Party of Florida is resolved. Republicans filed an elections
complaint during the summer of 2...
Using
a tragedy to pander
(
11/04/2003
© Ocala Star
Banner)
There will be no
winners in the Terri Schiavo case. This long
and painful tragedy about a woman who has been in a vegetative state for
the past 13 years has sadly become defined by the vicious family, legal
and, now, political battles. The question is one of life or death - remove
her feeding tube a...
Lines
of power blurred with Schiavo law
(11/03/2003 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE --
Many legal experts believe a law quickly passed by Florida lawmakers and
signed by Gov. Jeb Bush to help keep a brain-damaged woman alive will be
found unconstitutional. But the argument over constitutionality isn't one
that carries much weight in the Capitol halls, where the Republican
governor and GOP-led Legislature who have sworn to uphold the Florida
Constitution often pay s
Terri
s Law -- How It Passed
(11/03/2003 © Lakeland
Ledger)
TALLAHASSEE -- For
weeks, state Rep. Frank Attkisson had a ready answer for anyone who
emailed him about saving Terri Schiavo. The
delete button. 'I have been deleting them as fast as I could,' said
the Republican from
Kissimmee
, who had not closely
followed the case of the severely brain-...
Florida
’s workers’
comp advocate under attack from insurers
Beat
up, but still not shut up
(
11/03/2003
© Palm Beach
Post)
Voices, Inc. is an
organization for injured workers who didn't get what
Florida
's 'self-executing'
workers compensation system promises. In the Legislature's unending effort
to reform the system, Voices lobbies for people who usually are drowned
out. Its budget is small enough to be covered by 'm...
Yet
another constitutional mandate being ignored
Officials
worry about court funding
(11/03/2003 © Charlotte
Sun Herald)
ENGLEWOOD -- It
was on this date five years ago that state voters approved a referendum
calling for a revision of the Florida Constitution. The item, called
Revision 7 of Article V (the section which created the clerk of courts),
ordered the state to assume responsibility for the operational expe...
Florida
Election 2004
Graham
s exit gives GOP hope
(11/04/2003 © St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE - Bob
Graham's decision not to seek re-election sets up an intensely competitive
U.S. Senate race and improves the Republican Party's chances of reclaiming
the seat next year. Like a lid lifted off a pot of boiling water, Graham's
exit will unleash months of pent-up political ambition among Democrats.
They were forced to wait while Graham made his decision. Republicans,
meanwhile
It
s time for Democrats new face
(
11/04/2003
© St.
Petersburg Times)
TALLAHASSEE
- An endangered
Florida
species is walking off
the stage. Bob Graham didn't just push the door wide open for a
potentially bruising U.S. Senate race in announcing his plans Monday not
to seek a fourth term. He slammed another door shut on a political era.
After decades of riding the coattails of Democratic giants from LeRoy
Collins to Reubin Askew to Graham to Lawton Chil
Graham
withdrawal leaves wild chase for open seat
(11/04/2003 © Daytona
Beach News-Journal)
TALLAHASSEE -- Bob
Graham's decision to retire creates a free-for-all among Florida Democrats
to replace him in the U.S. Senate while Republicans are crowing about
their chances of taking the seat. Four Democrats and four Republicans are
among the candidates seeking their party's respective nominations in the
Aug. 31, 2004
primary. Graham's
departure also could lure other candidates into the fr
More
than a dozen Democrats eye Graham s Senate seat
(11/04/2003 © Ft.
Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
U.S. Sen. Bob
Graham's retirement shook Florida Democrats' political world like an
earthquake Monday, with the aftershocks felt from Congress and the state
Senate to Weston City Hall. Graham's departure triggered
South Florida
's biggest potential
political turnover in years, as more than a dozen ...
Democrats
will consider straw poll for race
(
11/04/2003
© Jacksonville
- Florida Times Union)
U.S. Sen. Bob
Graham settled his future only to jumble the outlook for his office even
more. Within minutes four Democrats reinvigorated campaign ambitions on
hold for the past month as the three-term senator decided what to do.
Their first test could come soon because Florida Democratic Party
spokeswoman Allie Merzer said state leaders on
Nov. 16 will consider having a straw poll next m
What
do you do when you have a huge budget deficit? Buy a stadium for a
privately owned sports team.
Bush
says he s keeping an open mind on stadium
(
11/03/2003
© Miami
Herald)
Florida
: Gov. Bush says
regarding Marlins stadium, he is 'keeping an open mind'
Miami-Dade
County
: Florida Marlins stadium
will pass but will aviation authority be deferred?
Broward
County
: Nov.10 is deadline:
Will Gov. Bush take Oliphant out? Miami-Dade
Public Schools: 26-member Inte...
Law
would give Marlins tax break for stadium
(11/04/2003 © Miami
Herald)
From Herald Wire
Services A state lawmaker from Coral Springs has thrown the first pitch in
the legislative effort to get tax breaks for a new South Florida baseball
stadium. Democratic Rep. Stacy Ritter submitted a proposal to the House's
bill-drafting staff last week that seeks to give the Florida Marlins a $2
million annual sales tax-rebate to pay for the ballpark's construction. Th
NATIONAL
NEWS
Economic
recovery?
Tell that to the workers
Job
Cuts Announcement Jumps - Highest Level in a Year
CNN – Money Magazine
11/04/03
Companies
repeat mistake of cutting investment in workers
USA
Today
11/04/03
The
Hard Road to Paycheck - Looking for Full-Time Job in America
The
Washington
Post
11/04/03
Medicare
still under attack
PRIVATIZATION
STILL IN MEDICARE BILL--Republican
congressional leaders, after weeks of closed-door meetings, are finalizing
a Medicare prescription drug bill that moves Medicare toward privatization
and raises premiums, co-payments and deductibles for 32.5 million seniors
and people with disabilities. It also threatens the employer-provided
health care benefits of some 4.5 billion retirees, while showering drug
companies with profits (see following item). Bowing to Bush White House
pressure, congressional Republicans are moving to get a bill finished
before the 2004 elections. Visit http://www.aflcio.org
to send a message to your lawmakers: Don't privatize Medicare.
PHARMA, NOT SENIORS, DRUG
BILL WINNERS--A new study shows the pharmaceutical industry will earn
a stunning "windfall profit" of $139 billion under the Medicare
prescription drug legislation now in a House and Senate conference. The
study, "61 Percent of Medicare's New Prescription Drug Subsidy Is
Windfall Profit to Drug Makers," by the Health Reform Program at
Boston
University
's
School
of
Public Health
, says the bill does not
contain mechanisms to control prices and does not even allow Medicare to
negotiate prices for drugs. "[T]hese
unrestrained prices--given the remarkably low real cost of producing the
added volumes of pills that Medicare patients need--will bestow enormous
windfall profits on prescription drug makers," the report says. Visit
http://www.healthreformprogram.org
to read the report.
White
House Backs Limits on Spending for Medicare
By ROBERT PEAR
Congress may be forced to vote on possible cutbacks in
Medicare if the costs of the program, including new drug benefits, grow
faster than expected.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/politics/04MEDI.html?th
Grocery
Workers Holding Strong
HOLDING
THE LINE FOR HEALTH CARE--Nearly 80,000 grocery workers nationwide now are
on strike, fighting to save affordable, adequate health care. Striking
southern California grocery workers were joined by AFL-CIO President John
Sweeney, UFCW President Douglas Dority,
Machinists President Thomas Buffenbarger,
Bakery, Tobacco, Confectionery and Grain Millers President Frank Hurt,
SEIU President Andrew Stern and AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades
Department President Edward Sullivan to announce "Holding the Line
for Health Care" to support the 70,000 locked-out and striking
workers in southern California and grocery workers in West Virginia and
Kentucky who have been off the job since mid-October. Major grocery
employers, including Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons, are demanding a 75
percent cut in employer contributions to health coverage for new workers
and a 50 percent cut for current workers--making coverage unaffordable and
inadequate. "These strikes are not just about UFCW members, because
if the giant supermarket chains can kill health care in southern
California, then all employers will feel that they can get away with
eliminating benefits," Dority said.
According to a new AFL-CIO report, "Squeezing Safeway Workers Won't
Solve the Problem," poor investments, not health care costs, are
destroying Safeway's competitiveness in southern
California
. The report
also finds that Safeway is taking a hardball approach to negotiations that
will hurt short- and long-term investor returns. To send a message telling
Safeway to negotiate fairly with workers, visit http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/hold_the_line
. For a copy of the Safeway report, visit http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/capital/safeway.cfm
.
More
on the
US
Health Care Crisis
Ill-Advised
Shift in Health Costs
Los Angeles
Times
11/2/03
Companies
forcing injured workers to sign waivers before treatment
Houston
Chronicle
11/2/03
Health
care costs transforming labor landscape
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
11/2/03
A
Plan to Import Drugs Safely
The
New York
Times
11/03/03
AFGE
Fights Back
COALITION
FIGHTS CONTRACTING OUT--"The effort to sell government to Big
Business cannot continue--particularly when it concerns privatizing public
services that are inherently governmental," said AFGE President John
Gage Oct. 28 as a coalition of some 73 labor, social service, nonprofit
and other groups urged Congress to stop the Bush administration's new
rules that make it easier to privatize government services. The new rules,
known as Circular A-76, are part of Bush's drive to privatize the jobs of
some 850,000 federal workers. For more on "Selling Out
the Government" see the October/November issue of "America@work,"
online at http://www.aflcio.org/aboutaflcio/magazine
.
Eection
2004
Campaign
Tactics Being Reversed as Events Shift
Monday was a snapshot of the presidential contest, as|
realities
at home and abroad intruded on the plans of the candidates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/politics/campaigns/04CAMP.html?th
A
Big Union Feather in Dean's Cap
Yahoo! News
11/01/03
Gephardt
leads in union picks, for now
Boston
Globe
11/02/03
Gephardt
Beats Clinton
NY Times
11/03/03
Economy
Poses Challenges for Dems
The
New York
Times
11/2/03
Kerry,
Gephardt, Edwards Gang Up on Dean
Associated Press (AP)
For
Gephardt to survive, he must win Iowa
Sacramento
Bee
MTA
Strike Continues in
California
Striking
California Mechanics to Vote
AP
11/04/03
MTA
Union May Vote
LA Times
11/3/03
Union,
MTA Stiffen Resolve on Strike
Los Angeles
Times
11/1/03
Wal
Mart Watch
Subcontractors
gave Wal-Mart illegal workers
Philadelphia
Inquirer
11/02/03
Wal-Mart
case not isolated in U.S.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
11/2/03
Contract
work legally tidy for Wal-Mart — theoretically
Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette
11/2/03
Wal-Mart
Marches on Despite Bad Press
Reuters
11/1/03
George
Bush’s America
This
Can't Go On
Our
current leaders and their apologists insist that issues ranging from
budgets to foreign policy will magically solve themselves. They won't.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/04/opinion/04KRUG.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.
SUBSCRIBE
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please let us know at cbell@flaflcio.org.
Rich
Templin
Communications Director
Florida
AFL-CIO
|
