On Tuesday, adjunct faculty at St. Petersburg College voted to unionize. They’ll be with SEIU FPSU Faculty Forward. WMNF interviewed Angela Edwards-Luckett, an adjunct professor of world religions at St. Petersburg College. Professor Edwards-Luckett says that adjunct faculty earn only a fraction of the wages of full-time professors. “I voted to unionize because I recognize… Read more »
Blog & Station Updates
Interview with climate scientist Michael Mann ahead of his speech in St. Petersburg
“Trust and Betrayal” on Morning Energy
Deadline to Sign Up For the Affordable Health Care Act is December 15; Premiums Expected to Remain Flat or Decline Slightly
Are probiotics a key to slow spread of Florida’s devastating coral disease?
Economic Policy Institute: Young Workers Face Low Wages
Read MoreMcDonald's workers in Tampa join nationwide strike for union rights
Read MoreCustodians rally against privatization at Hillsborough School Board
Read MoreLabor activists will rally to oppose privatization of custodial work in Hillsborough Schools
Read MoreHillsborough Schools custodians fight privatization
Read MoreCoalition of Immokalee Workers will stop in Tampa on march "4 Fair Food"
Read MoreClimate change is making Florida's heat dangerous for farmworkers: report
Read MoreNurses at 4 Tampa Bay area hospitals authorize strike
Read MoreDolores Huerta reacts to judge's rebuke of Trump's DACA cancellation
Read MoreACORN Founder Wade Rathke Subject of New Film The Organizer Talks About Community Organizing
Read MoreSDS plans May Day and USF sanctuary campus rallies; plus, listeners react to airstrikes on Syria
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Sex worker solidarity group opposes “bathhouse ordinance” in Hillsborough
In the last few months the City of Tampa passed an ordinance trying to cut down on human trafficking by regulating businesses that pose as a massage parlors; but opponents of what’s called the “bathhouse ordinance” are concerned that it hurts victims of sex trafficking. Sydney Eastman, a volunteer with the Sex Worker Solidarity Network,… Read more »
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New Film About Veteran Community Organizer Heather Booth Will Be Shown Tonight in Tampa
Radioactivity 3 22 18 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up— We’ll meet veteran community organizer Heather Booth— who took part in the Civil Rights movement, she was an early a feminist leader and is considered to be one of the country’s most effective progressive organizers. She’s the subject of a new… Read more »
Pasco teachers rally to protest Florida education bill
A major education bill unanimously passed the Florida Senate Education Committee Tuesday, after a few changes from the version that passed the state House; about 125 teachers and their supporters from Pasco, Hernando Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties rallied against the bill and for public education Monday in Land O’ Lakes. Don Peace is president of… Read more »
Hillsborough teachers & supporters rally outside school board meeting
Teachers and their supporters rallied at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Hillsborough County School Board. They’ve demonstrated outside the last several meetings. The executive director of HCTA — the Hillsborough teachers’ union — Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins, says they’re no closer to a contract agreement with the school district. Baxter-Jenkins says the local struggle of teachers for fair… Read more »
USF grad student union decries Florida “union busting” bill
Last week the Florida House passed a bill that critics call the “union busting bill;” our guest says it will hurt members in graduate assistants unions like the one she is co-president of at the University of South Florida. The bill would decertify public sector unions that have less than 50 percent dues-paying members. So far… Read more »
Florida House will vote on bill opposed by unions
**Update, Thursday 25 January 2018: The Florida House passed HB 25, 65-41. The Florida House will vote as soon as Thursday on a bill that Republican leaders in the Legislature say would prevent a small number of people from claiming to represent a large number of employees; but unions oppose HB 25 saying its goal is… Read more »
Teachers and supporters protest outside Sarasota County Schools
Hundreds of teachers and their supporters rallied outside Sarasota County Schools offices Tuesday afternoon; they’re not happy with the latest offer from the school district. On Wednesday, WMNF News interviewed the executive director of the teachers’ union, Barry Dubin of the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Association, about the contract negations. “For instance, if the [county’s school tax] referendum… Read more »
Walt Disney World labor unions reject offer
The collection of six labor unions representing 38,000 full time and part-time Walt Disney World employees recently rejected a minor wage increase from the tourism giant. WMNF News interviewed Ed Chambers, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1625 and of the collection of six unions, known as the Service Trades Council… Read more »
Hillsborough teachers not impressed with bonus offer
Teachers in Hillsborough County are still in labor negotiations with the school district, including for promised pay raises. To find out where things stand after what the teachers consider a weak proposal this week, WMNF News spoke with Stephanie Baxter-Jenkins, the executive director of the Hillsborough teacher’s union, Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association (HCTA). Listen:
Living wage ordinance passes in St. Petersburg
The St. Petersburg City Council recently passed an ordinance that requires many companies doing business with the city to pay their employees a living wage. WMNF News interviewed Charlie Gerdes, one member of the St. Petersburg City Council who voted for the living wage ordinance. Listen: “We passed an ordinance that requires any contractor or… Read more »
How can sexual misconduct be prevented in the workplace?
What can be done to successfully prevent or reduce sexual misconduct in the workplace? Sexual Violence Prevention programs have been established in workplaces for decades. But as a barrage of incident reports flood our news feeds and consciousness, those programs seem useless. What can be done to measurably diminish harassment, violence, and abuse in organizations… Read more »
Taxes would skyrocket for grad student workers under House bill
The Republican tax bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives would dramatically increase taxes paid by graduate students doing much of the teaching and research on university campuses; we speak with two graduate assistants from the University of South Florida. Erin Sauer and Marcy Cockrell are co-presidents of USF Graduate Assistants United. Last Thursday… Read more »
Disney workers living near poverty fighting for a pay raise
A 2014 report by the Associated Press found a rash of homelessness among children living in the Central Florida communities around Walt Disney World. There were more than 1,200 homeless families with children just in Osceola County. “Homeless advocates blame the housing problem on the low-paying wages of the service economy and the rents in… Read more »
