Prayer Vigil and Rally to Save Our Schools
Join working families, teachers and concerned community members in a prayer vigil and rally for the four public schools that the local school board has decided to shut down. These schools serve populations that are predominantly students of color.
Bring Jobs Home- America Wants to Work
The outsourcing of jobs has spread from manufacturing to services and other sectors of the economy, devastating working families and their communities. Working together with our allies, the Bring Jobs Home: America Wants to Work Campaign will use pending legislation in Congress to raise the public dialogue to make outsourcing a key factor in the upcoming elections this fall.
We will expose corporations, especially those that are laying off workers, and forcing strikes and lockouts over this issue. Beginning the last week of June through the second week of July, join us in actions focused on holding elected officials and candidates accountable for where they stand on the Bring Jobs Home Act. We will also focus on corporations, financial institutions and specific plants in communities that have felt the impact of outsourcing American jobs.
Please join us at the actions listed below that are occurring across the state of Florida.
Pembroke Pines: July 2nd at Noon at Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz office located at 10100 Pines Blvd.
Miami: July 4th at 4 pm at Charles Hadley Park located at 1300 NW 50th St.
Tampa: July 5th time and location TBD
Jacksonville: July 6th at 11:45 am at the T-Mobile store located at 1140 Dunn Ave.
West Palm Beach: July 6th at 5 pm at the T-Mobile store located at 1960 Okeechobee Boulevard (SE corner of Okeechobee Blvd and Church St).
Gainesville: July 6th at 5:30 pm at the T-Mobile store located at 6419 West Newberry Road.
Pensacola: July 6th at 5:30 pm at the T-Mobile store located at 520 North Navy Blvd.
Write Your Local Paper About Bringing Jobs Back To America
As we celebrate the anniversary of our great Nation’s birth, legislation is moving through Congress that will improve the economy, lower unemployment and revive weakened communities. With over 50,000 manufacturing facilities closed in the last decade, coupled with the loss of over 6 million jobs in that sector, there needs to be a focus of putting Americans back to work! The Bring Jobs Home Act (S. 2884, H.R. 5542) will eliminate some of the tax incentives that send good American jobs overseas while creating incentives to keep jobs here.
As the offshoring of jobs has spread from manufacturing to the service sector of our economy, it has had a devastating effect on families and our communities. This legislation is a good start and all members regardless of party affiliation should get behind this legislation. Will you write a letter to your local newspaper about this important issue so your neighbors know about this legislation?
Tell the Senate to Support the Bring Jobs Home Act
As we celebrate the anniversary of our great Nation’s birth, legislation is moving through Congress that will improve the economy, lower unemployment and revive weakened communities. With over 50,000 manufacturing facilities closed in the last decade, coupled with the loss of over 6 million jobs in that sector, there needs to be a focus of putting Americans back to work! The Bring Jobs Home Act (S. 2884, H.R. 5542) will eliminate some of the tax incentives that send good American jobs overseas while creating incentives to keep jobs here.
These policies have outsourced jobs and rewarded corporations with taxpayers’ money while they ship production, jobs and innovation overseas. Wall Street bankers and CEOs have filled their pockets while the rest of us have picked up the pieces.
As the offshoring of jobs has spread from manufacturing to the service sector of our economy, it has had a devastating effect on families and our communities. This legislation is a good start and all members regardless of party affiliation should get behind this legislation. Will you write a letter to your Senators about this important issue so your neighbors know about this legislation?
This month and beyond, working families across the country will call on lawmakers and corporations to bring good jobs home and invest in America again, instead of shipping away our future.
Never Forget Why the Affordable Care Act is so Important
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act–more than 105 million Americans will continue to benefit from the elimination of lifetime limits and the coverage of preventive services, more than 6 million young adults will remain covered by their parents’ health care plans and seniors will continue to save money on prescription drugs: http://www.aflcio.org/Issues/Health-Care
CEO Pay and the 99%
The AFL-CIO launched their 2012 Executive PayWatch site—now called CEO Pay and the 99%—which includes the most comprehensive data accessible on 2011 executive pay. All of the data available is searchable by industry, by state and by the top 100 highest-paid CEOs. Check it and help us share it widely.
CEO Pay and the 99% shows that a CEO of a company in the S&P 500 Index, on average, received $12.9 million in total compensation in 2011. That’s a 14 percent raise over the previous year. And that’s on top of a 23 percent increase in 2010.
In stark contrast, the average wage for workers hovered at $34,000 in 2011. Median household income fell $3,700 over the past decade. And those who are employed received an average 2.8 percent raise—barely keeping up with inflation.
The new site also features data on:
Swelling corporate cash stockpiles. Corporations have a record $2.2 trillion in cash on their balance sheets, according to the Federal Reserve. But rather than reinvest this capital to grow our economy and create jobs, CEOs are not deploying these resources.
The widening gap between CEO-to-worker pay. Last year, this ratio of CEO-to-worker pay had widened to an astonishing 380 times. In 1980, CEOs of large U.S. companies made 42 times the average wages of workers.
Mutual funds’ votes on executive pay. Mutual funds wield enormous clout on CEO pay issues in part because of the new “say-on-pay” requirement that shareholders cast an advisory vote on CEO pay. In this new section, investors can look up how their mutual funds voted and ask their mutual funds to vote against runaway CEO pay levels.
The shady world of private equity, which Mitt Romney’s candidacy has brought to light.
You also can take action to rein in out-of-control CEO pay: Send an e-mail to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and urge it to implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s requirement that public companies disclose their ratio of CEO-to-worker pay.
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.
Victory! Senate Defeats Prison Privatization 21-19
Yesterday, the Florida Senate rejected SB 2038, Gov. Rick Scott’s prison privatization scheme. The victory was the clear result of an outpouring of public support for correctional officers and prison workers along with disgust over private prison contractors’ attempts to subvert our democracy.
Opposition to the privatization scheme was heavily bipartisan – with nine Republicans joining with all twelve Democrats in voting against SB 2038.
Here’s the final vote breakdown:
| NO (21) Braynon (D) Bullard (D) Dean (R) Diaz de la Portilla (R) Dockery (R) Evers (R) Fasano (R) Gibson (D) Jones (R) Joyner (D) Latvala (R) Margolis (D) Montford (D) Oelrich (R) Rich (D) Ring (D) Sachs (D) Siplin (D) Smith (D) Sobel (D) Storms (R) |
YES (19) Alexander (R) Altman (R) Benaquisto (R) Bennett (R) Bogdanoff (R) Detert (R) Flores (R) Gaetz (R) Garcia (R) Gardner (R) Haridopolos (R) Hays (R) Lynn (R) Negron (R) Norman (R) Richter (R) Simmons (R) Thrasher (R) Wise (R) |
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”.
