Take Action
Stop Wage Theft In Florida By Stopping SB 862/HB 609
Wage theft is a major problem for Florida workers, with an estimated $60-90 million stolen from paychecks. Its a problem that disproportionately impacts lower wage workers in key sectors in Florida’s economy – tourism, retail, and construction. But what is wage theft specifically? A recent report by the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at Florida International University explains:
Wage theft is defined as workers not receiving wages that they are legally owed. It occurs in different forms including unpaid overtime, not being paid at least the minimum wage, working during meal breaks, misclassification of employees as independent contractors, forcing employees to work off the clock, altering time cards or pay stubs, illegally deducting money from employees’ pay checks, paying employees late, or simply not paying employees at all. Unfortunately, many employers know they can get away with wage theft and have little fear of sanction. Enforcement mechanisms are weak, due to lack of dedicated enforcement capacity at the state level, limited capacity of local branches of the Federal Department of Labor, and the gaps in U.S. labor laws that leave many employees unprotected.
Miami-Dade county recently passed a strong anti-wage theft ordinance and has already collected $400,000 in stolen wages. Now, extremists in the Florida Legislature are now trying to pre-empt Miami’s ordinance before it spreads to other counties, making it illegal for local governments to pass wage ordinances. Instead, SB 862 and its counterpart HB 609 would only allow state government to take action against wage theft. We all know how that story would end.
Fight Back Against A Cut To The Minimum Wage For Tipped Employees
Click here to write a personal letter to the Florida Senate.
The extremists in charge of the Florida Legislature think $4.65-per-hour is just too much for waiters and waitresses to be making. Their latest scheme would slash the hourly wages of tip earners, like restaurant employees, parking attendants, hotel workers and food delivery workers, from $4.65 to $ 2.13 in order to give special breaks to the big business buddies on Wall Street. The savings from this reduced wage will go directly into the pockets of CEOs at restaurants like Chili’s® and Outback Steakhouse®.
This is wrong, and we need your help getting the word out so we can stop them in their tracks. The next time you eat out, leave behind this “tip” for wait staff in addition to your cash tip. This will let restaurant employees know about this legislative attack and give them the tools to fight back. Working families need assistance, not cuts to their basic pay. This is unfair, unbalanced and would cause economic pain in households and communities across Florida. Help us get the word out today.
Prison Privatization Vote Coming Soon. Call Today!
All hands on deck!
Senate President Haridopolos and Rick Scott will Attempt to Ram Prison Privatization through the Senate Tomorrow!
On Monday and Tuesday the Senate will convene to vote on SB 2038, the prison privatization bill. This bill will devastate small communities and working families’ economic stability and safety, but many in the Senate are ignoring this reality so they can funnel our tax dollars to the special interests that own corporate prisons.
Make The Call!
Please call 877-274-0951 to get connected with your Florida State Senator and tell them “to vote no on SB 2038”.
Thank Key State Senators Stopping Prison Privatization
We’ve seen this movie before, as the Tampa Bay Times points out:
It’s easy to tell when Florida’s leaders in Tallahassee are trying to ram through legislation that would not pass on its merits. First they try to sneak it through. Once caught, they change the rules and play with the financial numbers. Then the governor calls in opponents to twist arms. And finally, legislative leaders punish those who won’t get on board.
Private prison contractors have poured contributions into state senator’s campaign accounts, and they wanted their return on investment – a mass privatization of prisons in south Florida. What so often happens in politics is deep pocketed special interests like the prison contractors get their way. So far, not this time.
Thanks to thousands of Floridians who stood up and put relentless pressure on their legislators, and the personal courage of a few key state senators, the grand prison privatization scheme is stalled.
And as the Times points out, with legislators caught red-handed trying to pass bad legislation, those courageous enough to stand up against the scheme get punished. Sure enough, Senate President Mike Haridopolos took away leading privatization critic Sen. Mike Fasano’s committee chairmanship. Fasano’s response?
“No matter how big the bully in the schoolyard may be, if the loss of a chairmanship is the result of taking a stand for what is right, I wear that loss as a badge of honor.”
Stand Up Against The Dangers of Prison Privatization
Rick Scott and some Legislators in Tallahassee are pushing the most dangerous bills imaginable. Two bills, SB 2036 and SB 2038, aim to privatize many governmental services and agencies without the public having a voice in the process. Both SB 2036 and SB 2038 are beyond reckless but Tallahassee politicians want them to become law at any cost.
Here is what these bills do:
Put Your Family’s Safety On The Line
These bills remove any accountability for private prison companies or other public safety contractors. This means more prison escapes, hiring unqualified “security officers” and stretching our local law enforcement too thin.
Costs Florida Thousands Of Jobs
The first thing Scott’s privatization scheme will do is cause thousands of experienced officers to be laid off. These officers and their families will lose their incomes, costing Florida small businesses millions in lost revenue.
Hand Over Billions In Tax Dollars To Political Donors
The same private contractors who want to take over our prisons have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Tallahassee politicians like Governor Scott. Now, these same politicians are pushing these bills that will hand over your tax dollars to their biggest campaign donors.
Hurts Small Businesses Across Florida
These bills are an economic nightmare for small cities and towns throughout Florida. Privatizing a governmental agency hurts the entire community. If local workers are displaced from their jobs it affects small business, when the work that was being done is privatized and the workers on the job make less, it affects small business.
This is a clear attempt by the Legislature to return the favor by allowing contractors to make huge profits off of your tax dollars. That’s just not fair.
Sign our petition to take a stand for public safety, governmental transparency and accountability.
Stop The Legislature’s Scheme To Make Privatization Secret
Two destructive bills are being rushed through by Gov. Rick Scott and his cronies in the Legislature that would essentially keep privatization efforts in the dark, away from the view of Florida taxpayers.
SB 2036 delays the delivery of key performance information on vendor contracts, so Floridians wouldn’t know if private contractors are doing the job they’re paid to do for much longer than usual. SB 2038 exempts the privatization of correctional institutions from the competitive bidding requirements, bid disputes, and rule challenges.
Legislators are hoping Floridians like you aren’t paying attention to bills like this.
Stand Up For Florida’s Children
You may have heard about Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to increase public education funding by $1 billion. Suspicious yet? You should be, because Scott is getting this “new” funding by cutting Florida’s Medicaid program, which coincidentally provides essential health care to hundreds of thousands of children in our state. And in case you forgot, Scott had proposed a whopping $3 billion cut to public schools last year, and the Legislature gave him a giant $1.3 billion. Scott’s “increase” even if it made it into the state’s budget, wouldn’t replace all the funding he and his buddies in the Legislature cut out last year.
There’s a better, fairer way to balance Florida’s budget that protects our children from schemes like Scott’s: making wealthy corporations pay their fair share.
Awake the State 1/10/12
It’s time to Awake The State!
Gov. Rick Scott and his extreme allies in the Legislature have launched an all-out assault on Florida’s middle class. They have cut billions from our public schools, harmed the quality of health care Floridians receive, and cost thousands their jobs.
Average Floridians are fed up with their governor and legislative leaders insisting on balancing the budget on the backs of hard-working Floridians. Enough is enough.
It’s time to Awake The State and urge our state legislators to end the war on our middle class and instead work to protect and expand our middle class by investing in our future.
Awake the State Rallies as of 1/5/12. However, please visit Awakethestate.com prior to January 10th to get the most updated information on the rally you plan on attending:
· Miami: 1/9/12| 6 PM at the Miami Dade Auditorium located at 2901 West Flagler Street
· Sarasota: 1/10/12| 10 AM in front of the Herald Tribune Offices located at 1741 Main Street
· Saint Petersburg: 1/10/12| 3 PM at Williams Park located at 330 2nd Avenue North
· West Palm Beach: 1/10/12| 4:30 PM at the Occupy Palm Beach Occupation Site located at N Olive Ave and Banyan Blvd
· Tampa: 1/10/12| 5 PM At Gaslight Park located at 410 N Franklin St.
· Ocala: 1/10/12| 5:30 PM at the First Congregational United Church of Christ located at 7171 SW Hwy 200
· Lakeland: 1/10/12| 5:30 PM at Munn Park located at 201 East Main St
· Fort Lauderdale: 1/10/12| 4 PM at 2132 E Oakland Park Blvd
· Shalimar: 1/10/12| 4:30 PM at the Courthouse Annex located at 1250 N. Eglin Pkwy
· Tallahassee: 1/10/12| 9 AM at the Historic Capitol Steps located at 400 S. Monroe St
· Inverness: 1/10/12| 3 PM at the Citrus County Courthouse located at 110 N. Apopka Ave.
· Melbourne: 1/10/12| 4 PM at the Brevard County School District Building located at 2700 Judge Fran Jamieson Way
· Pensacola: 1/10/12| 4 PM at Representative Clay Ford’s District Office located at 1804 W. Garden Street.
· Orlando: 1/10/12| 4 PM at the Orlando Progressive Center located at 134 East Colonial Drive
· Tavares: 1/10/12| 4:30 PM at Wooten Park located on E Ruby Street.
· Palm Coast: 1/10/12| 5:30 PM at Belle Terre Parkway in front of Kohl’s.
· Stuart: 1/10/12| 5:30 PM at the South side of the Roosevelt Bridge and US-1
Locations for the September 27th “Save America’s Postal Service” throughout Florida.
Listed below are the locations for the September 27th “Save America’s Postal Service” throughout Florida.
District 1
Who: Congressman Jeff Miller
Where: 348 SW Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Jeff Miller
Where: 4300 Bayou Blvd., Pensacola
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 2
Who: Congressman Steve Southerland
Where: 3116 Capital Circle NE., Tallahassee
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 3
Who: Congresswoman Corrine Brown
Where: 101 E. Union Street, Jacksonville
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 4
Who: Congressman Ander Crenshaw
Where: 1061 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 5
Who: Congressman Richard Nugent
Where: 16224 Spring Hill Dr., Brooksville
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 6
Who: Congressman Cliff Stearns
Where: 115 S.E. 25th Ave., Ocala
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Cliff Stearns
Where: 5700 SW 34th Street, Gainesville
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 7
Who: Congressman John Mica
Where: 100 East Sybelia Ave., Maitland
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman John Mica
Where: 770 West Granada Blvd, Ormond Beach
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 8
Who: Congressman Daniel Webster
Where: 300 West Plant Street, Winter Garden
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Daniel Webster
Where: 122 E. Main Street, Tavares
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 9
Who: Congressman Gus Bilirakis
Where: 35111 US Hwy 19 N., Palm Harbor
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Gus Bilirakis
Where: 110 W Reynolds Street, Plant City
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 10
Who: Congressman Bill Young
Where: 9210 113th Street, Seminole
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 11
Who: Congresswoman Kathy Castor
Where: 4144 North Armenia Ave, Tampa
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 12
Who: Congressman Dennis Ross
Where: 170 Fitzgerald Road, Lakeland
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 13
Who: Congressman Vern Buchanan
Where: 111 South Orange Avenue, Sarasota
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 14
Who: Congressman Connie Mack
Where: 3299 E. Tamiami Trail, Naples
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Connie Mack
Where: 804 Nicholas Parkway East, Cape Coral
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 15
Who: Congressman Bill Posey
Where: 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Melbourne
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 16
Who: Congressman Thomas Rooney
Where: 171 SW Flagler Avenue, Stuart
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 17
Who: Congresswoman Frederica Wilson
Where: 18425 NW 2nd Avenue, Miami Gardens
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 18
Who: Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Where: 4960 SW 72nd Avenue, Miami
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 19
Who: Congressman Ted Deutch
Where: 2500 North Military Trail, Boca Raton
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 20
Who: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz
Where: 10100 Pines Blvd, Pembroke Pines
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 21
Who: Congressman Mario Diaz Balart
Where: 8669 NW 36th Street, Doral
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 22
Who: Congressman Alan West
Where: 6300 NE 1st Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Who: Congressman Alan West
Where: 3111 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 23
Who: Congressman Alcee Hastings
Where: 2701 W. Oakland Park Blvd, Fort Lauderdale
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 24
Who: Congresswoman Sandra Adams
Where: 1000 City Center Circle, Port Orange
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
District 25
Who: Congressman David Rivera
Where: 12851 SW 42nd Street, Miami
When: 4:00p.m. — 5:30p.m.
Come Celebrate Labor Day with Fight for Florida!
Earlier this summer, Floridians from all walks of life, came together in Central Florida to Fight for Florida’s Future. Thousands were educated, energized and introduced to the Working Families’ Movement. Now, we need to turn up the volume.
Will you be able to join us on Labor Day? If so click here to RSVP for the celebration nearest you.
Families are barely scraping by. More and more they face tough choices. Some search for jobs. Some work harder and longer to keep the job they have. All make personal sacrifices to keep their families afloat. Meanwhile, politicians do nothing to solve the problems of working families but align themselves with the powerful special interests that caused our economic woes. This is why we need to build a Working Family Movement. We need to put the issues facing the majority of Americans at the forefront of the debate, not as an afterthought. We need a government that will stand up for middle class and working Americans rather than Wall Street and the Big Banks that brought these disasters to our front doors.
Now it is time to take our efforts to the next level. We must come together again to send a message to the politicians that their refusal to put families first by creating jobs and commonsense economic reforms is not tolerable. We need to let them know that their neglect is anything but benign and that the working families of Florida are not going to take it silently anymore. We are going to turn up the volume.
Will you be able to join us on Labor Day? If so click here to RSVP for the celebration nearest you.
In early September, we will be hosting Labor Day celebrations and events across the state. We invite you and your family to join in the festivities. Labor Day is a national holiday to honor all of us, the people that work every day to make America great! On this day, we celebrate and honor the 98% of Americans that either are employed or are looking for the opportunity. Let’s celebrate Florida’s workers and join together in solidarity for a little fun, a little politics and to build the camaraderie we will all need for the struggles that lie ahead.
It’s time to show Rick Scott and Tallahassee politicians that all of Florida’s workers, retirees and students are united in our determination to change the course of our state. Please join us on Labor Day, a day of unity for all working people and their families. It’s time to stand up for good jobs, for an economy that works for all and a government that invests in its greatest resource, its people. There is a lot of work ahead…let’s get together for some fun as we say goodbye to summer and hello to creating a Working Families’ Movement!
Will you be able to join us on Labor Day? If so click here to RSVP for the celebration nearest you.