Custodians in Hillsborough County Schools are fighting back against a proposal to privatize cleaning services. They are rallying Tuesday afternoon outside the school board meeting in downtown Tampa and speaking out during the meeting itself. In a separate demonstration Tuesday morning about fifty custodians and their allies rallied in a light rain shower. Organizers say… Read more »
Coalition of Immokalee Workers will stop in Tampa on march "4 Fair Food"
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Read MoreSDS plans May Day and USF sanctuary campus rallies; plus, listeners react to airstrikes on Syria
Read MoreSex worker solidarity group opposes "bathhouse ordinance" in Hillsborough
Read MoreNew Film About Veteran Community Organizer Heather Booth Will Be Shown Tonight in Tampa
Read MorePasco teachers rally to protest Florida education bill
Read MoreHillsborough teachers & supporters rally outside school board meeting
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USF grad student union decries Florida "union busting" bill
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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 »
Assistance available to Floridians who lost jobs due to Hurricane Irma
Floridians who lost their jobs because of Hurricane Irma may be eligible for help from the government. WMNF News interviewed Alice Cobb, director of programs at Career Source Pinellas and Career Source Tampa Bay, which are offering Irma recovery assistance for workers in the area. “We have various types of assistance. For example, we are… Read more »
How you can help Coalition of Immokalee Workers after Hurricane Irma
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, we hear how the migrant farming community of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been affected; and we hear from Tampa Bay residents upset at their power companies. We took phone calls; our guests was Roger Butterfield of the Student Farmworker Alliance. From the website of the CIW, Coalition of… Read more »
A look at school bus driver working conditions
Tuesday morning a Pinellas County Schools bus driver let students off the bus ten blocks away from their destination at Lealman Innovation Academy; according to a press release from the St. Petersburg Police Department, the driver said she let the as many as 39 sixth through twelfth grade students off for safety reasons. One student… Read more »
Union head: teachers spend own money on classroom supplies
Public school students go back to class in several counties across the Tampa Bay area Thursday, and many of them will have teachers who have to dig into their own pockets to buy classroom supplies. To find out the scale of the problem, WMNF News spoke with Mike Gandolfo, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers… Read more »
Unions fight for living wage for Disney workers
Thousands of unionized workers at Walt Disney World parks are negotiating for a wage increase and other benefits; and like what happened after previous wage hikes, the laborers hope that if they win a victory, higher wages will spread to other workers in the huge service industry in Central Florida. WMNF News interviewed Ivette Garcia,… Read more »
