CIW farmworkers vs Publix

Farmworker groups march to pressure Wendy’s on Fair Food Program

Florida migrant farmworkers and their allies will march from New York to Florida next month to call attention to working conditions in the fields; the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Alliance for Fair Food are calling on the fast-food chain Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. WMNF News interviewed Patricia Cipollitti, who works with… Read more »

Local workers join nationwide strike to raise the minimum wage; Sunshine Citizens group part of grassroots opposition to TBX project.

By Rob Lorei Today in Tampa,  low wage workers will be walking out of their jobs and rallying at Lykes Gaslight park as part of a nationwide strike organized by Fight for 15 movement, which advocates for a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage and union representation. Joining us to talk about the ongoing push for… Read more »

Pinellas and Hillsborough to join South Florida counties in combating wage theft

By Rob Lorei Hillsborough and Pinellas counties will soon be joining several South Florida counties in passing local ordinances aimed at protecting workers from wage theft. Wage theft is when employees are withheld  rightly owed wages or benefits, sometimes through forcing workers to work off the clock, denying paychecks, or garnishing employee tips.  It especially affects service… Read more »

Kevin Beckner

Hillsborough passes wage recovery ordinance

Hillsborough County now has a way to help employees who are getting short-changed by their bosses; the County Commission unanimously passed a “wage recovery ordinance” Wednesday morning to resolve disputes when a worker claims wage theft. During public comment, Tampa resident Mike Reedy told commissioners the ordinance would help keep disputes over wage theft by workers… Read more »

Aaron Carmella

Tampa labor activist opposes Trans-Pacific Partnership

Monday the United States reached agreement with eleven partner countries concluding negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership; there’s organized opposition to the TPP from environmental and labor activists, including a field director for the Central Labor Council – Aaron Carmella, who was a guest on WMNF’s MidPoint Monday. We talked about why labor opposes this trade… Read more »

Radioactivity finds out: what exactly is Democratic Socialism?

throughout most of Bernie Sanders presidential run, a lot have attention has been drawn to the fact that he is a self-described democratic socialist. But what exactly is democratic socialism? Joining us is Maria Svart, the National Director of the Democratic Socialists of America, to give insight into the this ideology that pairs democratic political… Read more »

April Griffin. WMNF

Hillsborough Schools using temp agency for substitute teachers

This year signs have popped up in front of schools in Hillsborough County by a large temporary work agency seeking teachers; does this mean there’s a major teacher shortage? This week WMNF News put that question to School Board member April Griffin, who said the district is always looking to hire new teachers but they’ve… Read more »

Attorney says Disney displaced US employees with foreign guest workers

By Rob Lorei The presidential race so far has brought a lot of attention to illegal immigration and its affect on low wage jobs, but there is growing attention on the practice of major companies using the H1B work visa to replace US workers with imported, cheaper foreign workers. The H1B visa was originally intended… Read more »

fight for 15 workers attend hearing in Brazil on Mcdonald’s labor practices

Today Host Rob Lorei talks with two Tampa area workers who just returned from a trip to Brazil to testify at a global hearing on the working conditions of McDonald’s workers from all over the world. Bleu Rainer, a McDonald’s employee for three years, and Nadaije Pail Jajoute, a childcare worker and wage advocate, are part of… Read more »