[ed. note: the introductory post is a bit longer than normal (with a lengthy quote from a court case)]
The Miami Herald's excellent series on exploitation of farmworkers makes plain that Florida's agriculture industry has created a condition of "servitude -- some call it slavery -- that decent people abhor."
Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida lawmakers should make ending abuse and exploitation of farmworkers a priority, just as they did with the medical-malpractice issue. Without corrective actions, the reputation of Florida's lucrative agriculture industry is at risk. In 1998, the industry had a $20 billion impact on the state's economy. "Florida's Fields of Despair".
Let's state the obvious: Bush will do nothing.
Farmworkers generally do not vote. They do not have any political power. Nothing will be done for farmworkers in the Tallahassee, particularly in the current enviroment when big business owns "Jeb!" and the GOP. Indeed, it was not much better 25 years ago (when the Dems were running things and were owned by big business as well).
This point is perhaps best demonstrated by what happened when farmworkers in Florida filed a lawsuit to enforce their right to unionize (after all, in Florida, all employees have a fundamental, state constitutional right to organize and bargain collectively). The trial court denied the injunction; the farmworkers' union (the IAM) appealed and two of the three judges on the appellate panel affirmed denial of the injunction without bothering to write an opinion. Judge Harry Anstead, a courageous jurist who is now Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court, wrote the following special concurrence in didmissal of the case:
ANSTEAD, J., specially concurring:
Article I, Section 6, of the Florida Constitution provides:
"The right of employees, by and through a labor organization, to bargain collectively shall not be denied or abridged."
For the most part, the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction over collective bargaining involving private employees. But the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. 151, specifically excludes agricultural workers from its provisions. Therefore, the National Labor Relations Board is without jurisdiction to resolve disputes between agricultural workers and their employers. And while there is Florida legislation governing collective bargaining by public employees, there is no such legislation in the private sector [for farmworkers].
The appellant, District Lodge 57 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, claims that the agricultural workers of this state are being deprived of their right to collective bargaining by virtue of the lack of specific legislation nationally or in this state, spelling out and enforcing their rights of collective bargaining as guaranteed by Article I, Section 6, Florida Constitution. Judicial implementation, including a mandatory injunction to compel the employer to bargain, of the right to collective bargaining was sought and properly denied in the court below. However, the point raised is not without merit.
The appellee employer, Talisman Sugar Corporation, raises three grounds for denial of relief to the appellant. The first ground asserted is that Section 6 gives no right to collective bargaining to any group.This assertion appears contrary to our Supreme Court's statement describing the right to collective bargaining:
"It [The right of farmworkers to unionize] is a constitutionally protected right which may be enforced by the courts, if not protected by other agencies of government."
The Supreme Court was referring to the right of collective bargaining of public employees before legislation was enacted establishing guidelines for the enforcement of the right. But there can be little doubt the court found there were definite rights involved when the Legislature was challenged:
"The Legislature, having thus entered the field, we have confidence that within a reasonable time it will extend its time and study into this field and, therefore, judicial implementation of the rights in question would be premature at this time. If not, this court will, in an appropriate case, have no choice but to fashion such guidelines by judicial decree in such manner as may seem to the court best adapted to meet the requirements of the constitution, and comply with our responsibility."
The right to collective bargaining by agricultural workers is granted by the same Section 6 as relied on by the public employees.
As a second ground for denying the appellant relief the appellee appropriately relies on the Supreme Court's decision in Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n., Inc. v. Legislature, quoted above, where a similar petition on behalf of public employees was denied by the court. The court ruled that the problem presented was one for legislative attention and not one for the courts.
. . . the petition was properly dismissed in the court below, and the arguments of the appellant should be directed to the appropriate legislative body, not the courts.
[International Association of Machinists, AFL-CIO v. Talisman Sugar Corp, 352 So.2d 62 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977) (footnotes deleted)]. 25 years later, the Florida Legislature has failed to pass legislation implementing the fundamental constitutional right of farmworkers to unionize, and the "right" lays dormant while farmworkers labor in "servitude -- some call it slavery -- that decent people abhor."
The Revolving Door -Former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Tim Moore, once among the state's most seasoned and respected veteran bureaucrats, has joined the state's most politically connected lobbying firm. "Ex-state law official takes job as lobbyist".
GOPer In Trouble -Republican Evelyn Lynn could face as much as $8,000 in fines in an investigation of accusations she signed off on false or incomplete campaign reports during her successful state Senate bid last year. "Campaign-report inquiry targets state senator".
Thank God We Don't Have To Pay That Intangibles Tax -State Farm, the largest home insurer in Florida, has asked state regulators to raise homeowners' rates an average of 6.9 percent following a pair of double-digit increases last year. "State Farm wants to lift homeowners' rates 6.9%".
Regier's Year - On the anniversary of taking over as Florida's chief of child welfare, Jerry Regier said Wednesday that the state has decreased backlogs in child abuse investigations, increased adoptions and reduced worker caseloads.
But his first year as head of the Department of Children & Families has also been marked by controversy, including claims he fired workers to please a lawmaker, questions about his personal religious beliefs and criticism for agreeing to serve as cochairman of a friend's political campaign in Oklahoma. "After year of furor, welfare chief cites department's gains".
Regier, Bruner And "Jeb!" - And let's not forget this one:
James H.K. Bruner, recently hired as a high-ranking lawyer for the Department of Children & Families, was a featured speaker -- along with subway gunman Bernhard Goetz -- at a New York rally that decried the ''tyranny'' of the United Nations and used a U.N. flag as a floor mat.
And a website maintained by a group called the Patriot Saints for the Kingdom of God on Earth, which says governments should not provide human services to the needy, lists Bruner, 45, as a member of the chapter in his former home city of Albany, N.Y.
Bruner vehemently denies being a member of the Patriot Saints, though he acknowledges receiving information from the group as executive director of the New York Family Policy Council -- a job he left to join DCF. He will be paid about $82,000 as a ''special assistant to the general counsel'' of DCF.
"DCF lawyer says he's not an extremist". The Tallahassee Democract think's he's "Wide right". The reality of course is that Bruner's beliefs expose the central tenets of the "Jeb!" administration. (You can see if Bruner's views on the UN are consistent with "Jeb!"'s at the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) website, where even failed water pump salesmen can play at being world leaders (notice the signature on the first line of this emptily verbose neocon "statement of principles")).
Sometimes Its Embarassing To Be A Gator - Ben Hill Griffin stadium (Griffin was Katherine Harris' s grandfather) is bad enough, but this takes the cake.
Georgia Blames Florida - No, it isn't college foortball. but the failed tri-state water talks.
In a statement issued by his press office two days after Florida declared the courts must settle the three-state dispute, [Georgia Gov.] Perdue said Florida had been seeking "to micromanage the water in Georgia" and called that "an affront to our state's sovereignty."
The fight over apportioning water rights from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin has been going on for years, although a settlement seemed near in July when the governors of the three states signed a tentative agreement.
However, the deadline for final resolution passed with the issue still unsettled. Florida said it backed away from the deal because it would not have received enough water.
He did not mention Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by name, but said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley "has consistently negotiated with the highest ideals of statesmanship in mind" and predicted he and Riley can reach agreement on sharing waters in the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River Basin. "Perdue: Fla. at Fault for Water Failure".
More fine leadership by the arrogant Jebbites. It seems that "Jeb!" cannot even work with fellow GOPers, but then we know that from his behavior in Florida . . . his putting the screws to fellow GOPers in the Florida senate and all that.
Abortion Politics -Florida can ban Medicaid payments for medically necessary abortions sought by poor women even though it pays for poor men's Viagra and vasectomies, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.
Abortion-rights advocates argued in June that state rules discriminate against women, but the 3rd District Court of Appeal decided the state has legitimate and rational interests in protecting life and containing health-care costs. An appeal is being considered. The Miami court found no special protection for women seeking abortions under a 1988 equal-rights amendment to the state Constitution. The rules against abortion funding are "rationally related to the legitimate government objective of protecting potential life," and Florida is allowed to limit services to contain Medicaid costs, said the unsigned opinion from a three-judge panel.
"As far as I can tell, they never addressed our sex-discrimination claim, which is really quite remarkable," said Bonnie Jones of the Center for Reproductive Rights in New York. She argued the appeal for an epileptic woman denied abortion funding,and for her doctor and his clinic.
. . .
Seventeen states [not Florida] now fund all medically necessary abortions, and many states go beyond the restrictions imposed by the federal Hyde Amendment in 1976.
. . .
[Florida now joins] The Texas Supreme Court [which] rejected an expansion of Medicaid funding for abortion in December, becoming the seventh state to do so.
Welcome Ms. Waters -One of the most outspoken women in politics will be visiting the Big Bend on Friday, meeting with college students and then speaking in Quincy.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) will visit Florida A&M University's campus to attend BET's Black College Tour on the intramural fields at 2 p.m. followed by a tour of the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum. "We are always fortunate to have leaders from all walks of life come to FAMU," said LaNedra Carroll, university spokeswoman. "But we are especially pleased with her because she modified her schedule to include us." "U.S. Rep. Waters visiting Big Bend".