State/Local CT: Town, police union dispute continues Nelson Oliveira ∙ New Canaan News ∙ 1:12 pm, September 4, 2014 Days after the Town of New Canaan filed a prohibited practice complaint with the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations claiming the police unions numerous frivolous complaints have exhausted taxpayers money, New Canaan Police Union Local 1575 filed a new complaint Aug. 28 accusing the town of failing to provide information regarding such expenses. .... Eric Brown -- an attorney with Council 15 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the New Canaan police union -- said he would like not to be filing as many complaints, noting that town officials have forced such circumstances. CT: OUR VIEW: Sharing the cost of health care Bristol Press ∙ September 4, 2014 9:43 PM One of the biggest complaints coming out of the Great Recession is that, while so many private sector employees saw reduced benefits or lost them entirely, even when they were able to hang on to their jobs, government workers didn’t feel the pinch. Their unions made sure they held on to a full menu of “fringes” — and, at the top of the list was subsidized insurance. Now a Blue Ribbon Committee is recommending that New Britain city employees should pay 20 percent of their health care insurance premiums. ... And there’s one more benefit to increasing city employees’ share of insurance premiums. Taxpayers resent paying for what they perceive as “gold-plated” plans when they have seen cuts to their own benefits. FL: Miami commissioners weigh tough budget decisions DAVID SMILEY ∙ Miami Herald ∙ 09.04.14 ..... Meanwhile, it remains unclear how much the city will give back to its employees, who gave up millions in salary and pensions during the recession to help the city balance its cash-strapped budget. Now that Miami has money to play with, the city’s unions are demanding their pay be restored to 2009 levels. And the $5.5 million Alfonso has offered to all employee groups isn’t satisfying them. “It’s pennies that we’re being offered,” said Sean Moy, president of AFSCME local 1907, which represents about 1,000 employees. FL: Miami-Dade commissioners push back on transit-fare hikes, police cameras in budget PATRICIA MAZZEI AND DOUGLAS HANKS ∙ Miami Herald ∙ 09.05.14 .... During the public hearing, library patrons and workers called for additional funding to add services, though libraries did not face the budget threat they confronted last year — thanks to a higher tax rate commissioners endorsed in July..... Another group of civilian police workers made a similar plea. Gimenez said the jobs would be saved if members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 199 union, which represents the employees, ratify a new labor contract with a redesigned health-insurance plan. Twelve civilian police positions would still be cut despite the healthcare savings, budget director Jennifer Moon told the Miami Herald. Florida doctors warn of early problems in Medicaid privatization rollout KELLI KENNEDY ∙ Associated Press ∙ September 04, 2014 - 1:56 pm Florida health officials are declaring victory after transitioning the states 3 million Medicaid recipients into private insurance plans, but some doctors and health advocates are warning their offices are filled with confused patients who say they have been cut off from their regular physician. The state sent out a press release this week saying that the Medicaid changes have gone well, but The Associated Press interviewed doctors, parents and health advocates around Florida who said privatization has exacerbated problems first noticed in a five-county pilot program eight years ago. Because the switch to privatization just concluded Aug. 1, the state has no data showing what services are being provided and denied. IA: Rep. Steve King Challenged To Make Ends Meet On Minimum Wage Scott Larson ∙ ABC9 News ∙ 09/04/2014 06:16 PM The minimum wage in Iowa has been stuck at $7.25 per hour for 6 years. And according to some, the time is long overdue to raise that figure. On Thursday morning, members of AFSCME and other local groups organized outside of Representative Kings downtown Sioux City headquarters. The group has determined that after taxes and housing expenses, the average full-time minimum wage employee takes home about $77 each week. Speakers at todays event say the lack of financial flexibility puts hardships on those who earn minimum wage - especially families. Related KTIV: Federal minimum wage debate spills onto Sioux City streets Sioux City Journal: Rally pushes Steve King to support minimum wage hike IL: Cabbies to protest city rules Chicago Tribune ∙ Sept 4, 2014 ..... A group of drivers is planning to appear this morning outside the citys administrative hearings building in River North to draw attention to the unjust system that denies due process to taxi cab drivers cited for code violations, according to a news release from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which is trying to organize cabbies. Related Fox 32: Chicago cab drivers threaten to strike over new taxi rules NBC5: Video ABC7: Video Journal Standard: Scott Reeder: Want a ride? Let customer decide IN: Court hears arguments on Indiana right-to-work law AP ∙ September 4, 2014 3:40 pm An Indiana Supreme Court justice described Indianas right-to-work law as anti-union Thursday as the court heard arguments on whether the legislation violates the state constitution. The law bars unions from requiring non-members to pay union fees for representation. Supporters of the law, pushed mostly by business groups, argue that mandatory fees amount to forced unionizing. But Democrats and unions said the law creates a freeloader dynamic, because workers can gain the benefits of the union without having to pay for membership. LA: New Orleans council clears Uber, others to offer luxury online taxi service Reuters ∙ Sep 5, 2014 New Orleans lawmakers cleared online for-hire car firms such as Uber on Thursday to offer luxury taxi-like services in the city, handing the fast-growing sector a partial legal victory. Under the new ordinance, Uber will be allowed to provide its Uber Black service, which enables passengers to connect with drivers of luxury cars via a smartphone app. The council did not vote on whether to authorize popular and less expensive ridesharing services like UberX and Lyft, which have been the focal point of legal challenges from taxi cab firms and regulators around the globe. MI: Detroit bankruptcy plan a road map that may need adjustment -citys CFO KAREN PIEROG ∙ Reuters ∙ Sept 4 Thu Sep 4, 2014 1:00pm Detroits chief financial officer took the stand on Thursday as the first witness in the citys historic bankruptcy hearing, testifying that while he believed Detroits debt adjustment plan can be implemented, it cannot be set in stone. .... Attorneys for two unions - the United Automobile Workers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees - objected to the plan cutting pensions for workers and retirees from separate municipal corporations, including the citys library system. The hearing is scheduled to continue through Oct. 17 Related Detroit Free Press: AFSCMEs Ed McNeil on Detroit bankruptcy hearing (video) MI: Snyder holds financial edge over Schauer in governors race, reports show Free Press ∙ 7:42 PM, September 4, 2014 ..... Union donors topped Schauer’s list, with AFSCME and SEIU Local 79 each contributing $34,000 in the most recent reporting period, bringing SEIU Local 79’s total for the campaign to $68,000. The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters gave $23,000, bringing that union’s total for the campaign to $68,000. MO: How municipalities in St. Louis County, Mo., profit from poverty Radley Balko ∙ Washington Post ∙ September 3 at 1:30 PM .... Some of the towns in St. Louis County can derive 40 percent or more of their annual revenue from the petty fines and fees collected by their municipal courts. A majority of these fines are for traffic offenses, but they can also include fines for fare-hopping on MetroLink (St. Louis’s light rail system), loud music and other noise ordinance violations, zoning violations for uncut grass or unkempt property, violations of occupancy permit restrictions, trespassing, wearing “saggy pants,” business license violations and vague infractions such as “disturbing the peace” or “affray” that give police officers a great deal of discretion to look for other violations. .... Residents of these towns feel as if their governments see them as little more than sources of revenue. NM: Infamous back pay checks to be sent soon, state says KOAT ∙ 8:45 PM MDT Sep 04, 2014 Five years and two administrations ago, state workers were promised a 3 to 5.5 percent pay raise. Instead they got a 2.9 percent raise. Employees took their battle to court and won, but workers still havent received their back pay. In June the state corrected and updated pay for some workers. Now onto phase two, which involves actually sending the back pay checks. The state workers union is staying cautiously optimistic. When we hear words like, We hope that this money is coming by the end of September or October, or barring unforeseen circumstances, well mail the checks, thats not anything we can take to the bank, said Miles Conway. NV: Inside Nevadas $1.25 billion Tesla tax deal Anjeanette Damon ∙ RGJ ∙ September 5, 2014 The tax incentive package assembled by Gov. Brian Sandoval to woo Teslas gigafactory is unprecedented in size and scope for the state of Nevada and is one of the largest in the country. The overall value to Tesla is estimated to be $1.25 billion over 20 years — a figure that is more than double the $500 million package CEO Elon Musk said would be required to draw the company. NY: Teachers union questions Grisanti’s political views Tom Precious ∙ Buffalo News ∙ September 4, 2014 - 4:54 PM The attacks ads against Sen. Mark Grisanti might be expected: The Buffalo Republican has wrongly embraced tax hikes, went against gun owners with his support of the SAFE Act and backed questionable state spending. But who launched the barbs comes as a surprise. They come not from a right-leaning organization or candidate, but from one of Albany’s most powerful forces on the political left: the New York State United Teachers. .... The Buffalo lawyer added that Grisanti has also gotten the backing of the Civil Service Employees Association, the big state and local government workers union. “I don’t know why he’s picking on NYSUT when CSEA is just as progressive a union as NYSUT,” Panepinto said. Ohio Early Voting Cuts Violate the Voting Rights Act The Nation ∙ September 4, 2014 - 1:59 PM Ohio keeps trying to cut early voting and the federal courts keep striking the cuts down. .... Today, a federal court in Ohio issued a preliminary injunction against the early voting cuts, which it said violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, ordering Ohio to restore early voting opportunities before the midterms. “African Americans in Ohio are more likely than other groups to utilize [early] voting in general and to rely on evening and Sunday voting hours,” wrote District Court Judge Peter Economus, a Clinton appointee. As a consequence, the early voting cuts “result in fewer voting opportunities for African Americans.” OR: SEIU Local 503 drops $75K on Kitzhaber campaign Hannah Hoffman ∙ Statesman Journal ∙ 4:32 p.m. PDT September 4, 2014 The states two largest public sector unions have given Gov. John Kitzhaber $125,000 over the past week, campaign finance records show. .... On top of the money from SEIU Local 503, AFSCME Council 75 gave $50,000 in late August and SEIU Local 49, a healthcare union with a close relationship to SEIU Local 503, gave $20,000 on Wednesday. PA: Harper poll of Pa. gubernatorial race shows smaller margin between Tom Wolf and Gov. Tom Corbett Christina Kauffman ∙ pennlive ∙ September 04, 2014 at 4:31 PM A Harper Polling survey released Thursday shows Gov. Tom Corbett trailing his Democratic rival by 11 points, the narrowest margin in any of the three Pennsylvania gubernatorial polls released in the past week. The survey shows Democratic challenger Tom Wolf leading the Republican incumbent 52 percent to 41 percent. PA: Courthouse office workers reject contract proposal Eric Poole ∙ ellwoodcityledger ∙ September 5, 2014 More than nine months after their previous labor contract expired, Lawrence County’s courthouse employees rejected a proposed agreement last week. County Commissioner Dan Vogler said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union rejected the contract, although he could not confirm results of the vote. An attempt Thursday afternoon to contact AFSCME officials from Northwestern Pennsylvania Public Employees Local 85, based in Franklin, which represents the Lawrence County employees, was unsuccessful. Puerto Rico House Leaders Propose Tax Changes ROBERT SLAVIN ∙ Bond Buyer ∙ SEP 4, 2014 5:09pm Two members of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives have proposed changes to the commonwealths tax system in a bid to increase revenue for the central government and simplify filing. The proposals by House President Jaime Perelló Borrás and chairman of the House Treasury and Budget Committee Rafael Hernández Montañez would reduce paperwork and eliminate a patent tax on corporate revenues over $1 million a year. The representatives and Gov. Alejandro Garc ía Padilla are members of the Popular Democratic Party. The party holds a majority in both the Puerto Rico House and Senate. PR: Census data highlights PR-Florida flow caribbeanbusinesspr ∙ Sept 5, 2014 New U.S. Census Bureau migration statistics released Wednesday highlight the flow of Puerto Rico residents into Florida in recent years. According to American Community Survey statistics, 68,847 people moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S and 27,208 moved from the U.S. to Puerto Rico during the year prior to being surveyed. WI: Editorial: Debbie Wasserman Schultz crosses line in attack on Gov. Scott Walker Journal Sentinel ∙ Sept. 4, 2014 Partisan attacks by firebrands such as Debbie Wasserman Schultz may fire up the base of political parties, but they do nothing to shed light on the very real issues in the campaign for governor. The Florida congresswoman who is also the Democratic National Committee chairwoman had this to say at a round-table discussion on womens issues in Milwaukee on Wednesday: Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand. I know that is stark. I know that is direct. But that is reality. Related Politico: DNC chief walks back Scott Walker ‘words’
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 20:18:57 +0000
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