News & Public Affairs

Saul-Sena protested by police union during commission run announcement listen

01/05/10 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Linda Saul-Sena, Ken Hagen, police, unions, Tampa City Council, Hillsborough County Commission, Jim Norman

This morning Tampa City Council member Linda Saul-Sena officially announced she is running for Hillsborough County Commission. But outside, police union members braved gusty winds and temperatures in the low forties to protest her recent vote against a raise for some Tampa police. Saul-Sena said she chose to make the announcement at Tampa Union Station because it represents transportation, history, and cooperation.

But many police officers are upset with Saul-Sena for joining four other Ci...

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Union members support collective bargaining for TSA workers listen

12/17/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: unions

The employees responsible for security at airports do not currently have the right to collectively bargain with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

At Tampa International Airport yesterday, local union members, including president of West Central Florida Federation of Labor Central Labor Council Robert Ray, expressed their support for the Transportation Security Officers.

Aaron Wazlavek, a national organizer with the [American Federation of Governme...

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Tampa Police denied pay raise listen

12/02/09 Concetta DeLuco
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Tags: unions, Tampa City Council

As Tampa faces harder economic times, it seems Tampa Police are going to have to pay. After months of debate in deciding whether to give Tampa Police an annual salary raise, the city council came to a decision today.

In a 5 to 1 vote, the City Council denied Tampa Police the request for a pay raise this year. Councilman Joseph Caetano was the odd vote. The police union and Mayor Pam Iorio hit an impasse in negotiations this past summer. Iorio has argued against the pay increase due the de...

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Pinellas Schools declares impasse in negotiations with teacher union listen

07/24/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Pinellas County Schools, unions

Earlier this week, Pinellas County Schools declared an impasse in their contract negotiations with the county’s teacher’s union. But the president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association still hopes there will be opportunity for discussion.

Because of declining tax revenues and school enrollment, Pinellas County Schools is proposing a budget that’s nearly 20 million dollars less than last year. As a result, they want al...

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How will St. Pete budget crisis affect services and employees?

05/27/09 Robert Lorei
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Tags: unions, St. petersburg, sanitation, city services, wages, benefits

Good afternoon, welcome to Radioactivity. I'm Rob Lorei. This fall St. Petersburg residents will elect a new mayor. The campaign is under way and most of the discusion seems to be centered on the future of the major league ballpark and what to do about structural problems at the Pier.

But some city workers want to ask the candidates about the city's budget problems and how will they deal with possible layoffs and cuts in city services.

Our guests are two union activists who represent ...

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Seymour Hersh: Secret assassination operation was run by Bush White House

03/12/09 Robert Lorei
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Tags: Hersh, unions, labor, assassination, Cheney

"At a “Great Conversations” event at the University of Minnesota [Monday] investigative reporter Seymour Hersh talked about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an “executive assassination ring,” according to Eric Black at MinnPost.com,

The evening, featuring Walter Mondale and Hersh, moderated by Jacobs and titled “America’s Constitutional Crisis,” looked to be a mostly historical review of events that have tes...

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Labor reacts to bid to kill Employee Free Choice Act in Florida listen

02/19/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Employee Free Choice Act, labor, unions

Hoping to head off a controversial organized-labor bill in Congress, two Republican legislators today introduced a constitutional amendment that would require secret ballots in union elections.

Naples Sen. Garrett Richter and House Majority Leader Adam Hasner announced their proposal in Tallahassee, where they said that without the amendment, employees could be pressured by their bosses or union organizers to vote for or against representation.

But organized Labor strongly disagrees. ...

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Debating the Employee Free Choice Act

02/17/09 Robert Lorei
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Tags: Politics, labor, unions, Employee Free Choice Act

There’s a battle looming in Congress between organized labor and big business- it’s over the proposed Employee Free Choice Act. The bill was passed by the House back in 2007- but it’s been filibustered in the Senate since 2007.

President Barack Obama says he supports EFCA. Labor unions say it would make it easier for employees to form unions. They say that over the past 30 years the balance of power has shifted and that companies have gained too much power to fight union organizing driv...

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Meek gets key union endorsement in Senate bid listen

02/16/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: SEIU, unions, politics, Senate

This morning one of the biggest public employee unions in Florida endorsed Miami area Congressman Kendrick Meek in the Senate race in 2010.

The endorsement by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is an early and strong boost for the Democrat. Currently, only Miami Beach Sen. Dan Gelber and North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns have announced their candidacies, though there could be several more announcing in the coming months.

Monica Russo is president of the Florida SEIU. She says...

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Employee Free Choice Act a possibility in Obama administration listen

12/17/08 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Politics, labor, unions

With a Democratic president and large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, labor organizers are optimistic that pro-union legislation can win passage in 2009. At the top of the wish list is the Employee Free Choice Act. Over the last 20 years, an imbalance has been created between employers and employees, according to Rich Templin, communications director with the Florida AFL-CIO, a labor union that supports the Employee Free Choice Act.

“What the ...

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