Hmmm... The S. Florida AFL-CIO just sent out a flyer titled: "THE STRONG MAYOR POWERGRAB MEETING. The last thing workers need is an 'Imperial Mayor'".
Heavens, I don't want to take on the unions. But....
I remember when I was working in Puerto Rico at a hotel and I was a member of the AFL-CIO (or a Teamster, can't remember which). Everyone said go home we are on strike. I said: "Nah, I think I will stay and work." My boss said: "You don't understand you don't work if your union is on strike." So till this day I am afraid of the union especially since all the representatives were big guys that traveled in packs of 20 or more and they all had matching satin jackets. I was eating the negotiated free lunch - that most of the time consisted of Goat meat - while they all had expensive jackets. I digress.
Why are the unions so afraid of the Strong Mayor vote? And why did the unions give thousands to keep the Witch, Commissioner Natacha Seijas in power? The Political Action Committee (PAC) Citizens to Protect the People's Choice got much money from Unions. For example, the Local 349 Electro PAC Fund gave $1,000. Team Pac No. 769 (teamsters) gave $1,000. The Plumbers Local Union #519 gave $1,000. Union Service Employee International gave a whopping $35,000! And the list goes on. However, $35,000 of union member money is very... hmmm. I wonder if their members have ever had goat meat?
So I ask, why are the unions so hot on keeping the status quo: powerful yet awful Commissioners and a powerless, yet handsome Mayor?
I ask the question without comment. Those satin jackets left an impression on me. I just say hmmm and will leave you with a quote:
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
William Shakespeare, "Hamlet", Act 1 scene 4
9 comments:
Unions? My foot! Remember what happened to the Teachers of Dade County Union? Pat Tornillo, their President, besides leading a grand life stole several million dollars from the teachers' contributions.
The union bosses lead their members like a cattle herd to meetings and political campaigns of government officials from whose largesse they are the only beneficiaries. Example: John Rivera, President of the PBA who duplicates his monthly salary with overtime, he really doesn't work, but is given to him to pad his retirement fund, while most Dade countians barely earn minimum salary. Jimmy Hoffa would be proud of him.
Money given from unions for political purposes is restricted by law- The money given is all voluntary from members and the community explicitly for political purposes, NOT from member dues. Just so you know that union members aren't being dragged around like sheep or whatever image you would like to convey-
Union members are actually informed citizens who participate in the political arena b/c they understand the power politicians hold over things like minimum wage increases, for example, that so many of our Miami-Dade residents earn.
And I don't know if anyone should admit to being afraid of large men wearing satin jackets.
We're not afraid of large men wearing satin jackets, on the hand, what is in it for the unions to be supporting the county commission?
What deal do they get from the county commission, that they won't also get from an executive mayor?
We know the majority of the county commission IS imperial. That is how they act, and that is how they treat union members.
What is driving union leaders is fear of reprisal--directed at them personally, by the majority lead by Natacha Seijas.
If you read through the previous posts, this issue is clear: there is no conceivable way that the MEMBERS of unions benefit from a dysfunctional form of govt. in Miami Dade.
Every day, union members pay the price for our dysfunctional govt like we all do.
When the system changes--to provide a direct line of authority from an executive mayor to the county manager--the status of union leadership and their members will be unchanged.
So what is all the fuss about, turning out members to vote against the executive mayor?
All that will change is that Natacha Seijas will not be calling the shots. All her supporters will run to the side of whoever is calling the shots.
That includes union leaders.
Anonymous 2 tries to convince us that union members give voluntary contributions to political campaigns and that they are not herded to participate in those same political campaigns. How can those employees survive days, weeks and even months w/o going to work at their regular jobs as the people the union bosses manipulate certainly need a salary in order to survive. Someone has to pay them or else they couldn't do that "voluntary" work.
Is anything "restricted by law" in Miami? I wonder.
Anonymous asks:
Is anything "restricted by law" in Miami? I wonder.
I think wearing satin jackets is restricted now. I haven't seen any.
Annoymous 2
I don't think there was any mention of SHEEP it was goat. The point was, she/he got a crappy perk from the union: a lunch fit for a union member perhaps--Most certainly not a union leader.
If you are so smart, answer the question all the writers posed-- why are union leaders working against the strong mayor. How does a strong mayor hurt a union any more than the commission already has?
Walter Dean Burnham, the great Political Scientist of American Political Parties, once said of the urban "reform" movement in the 19C that the goal of the most prominent and wealthy good government advocates was to turn "city officials from their unreliable and sometime rebellious slaves into their dependable employees thru the imposition of managerial systems of city governance." This is indeed what happened, after the reform movement slowly lead to the demise of the payola, patronage, chicken-in-every pot system of governance working class residents came to rely upon and whose demise actually lead to their decline of living standards, voter turnout, and access to political institutions (by every measure available and compensating for 'corruption.' The "civic" minded elites sought to have municipalities operating as efficient adjuncts of the business "Growth Machine" focused solely on accumulating capital and profits for city elites and they succeeded under the auspices of cleaning up the (actual) rampid "corruption." Please note many of the most despotic and aggressive regimes of the 20C were much less corrupt and far more efficient than their failed democratic predecessor. No one is going to argue that the commissioners have provided the best system of government for all of the countries vast majority of lower/working class citizens in the county. This is especially true for African-American, Afro-Caribbean, black and poor whites (the ones who remain), however, it is unarguable for many poor right-wing ethnic Hispanics an extensive patronage/welfare system exists, particularly for the elderly. Witness the extensive elderly housing units and meals-on-wheels programs in Martinez, Souto, and Sosa's districts etc. Sejias victory and the plight of poor blacks in MD HUD are results of liberals to fail to get their hands dirty with, ethnic politics. Thus to avoid the tasteless look (silk jacket) and smell of distasteful working ethnic class politics there is a tacit and concerted attempt to bond with the "establishment" not for the victory of progressive ideas but to banish petty ethnic politics and hand the mayor to the best funded and most telegenic mayoral candidate. Sure, municipal employees get some scraps from local politicians, that is their job to work as effective agents for their employees, just like a actor's agent gets the best roles for his/her client, however unlike the jet-set business persons and part-time Miami Beach liberals most municipal employees spend their money locally. Workers have elections to choose their "agents", is it a perfect system? Perhaps not, but it is better than pitting an individual worker against a dictator/boss or huge corporation.
Please note: Unions are not about organizing voluntary work, but rather fair wages, not that union leaders/members don't volunteer only the volunteer fetish is most often obsessed over by those who are wealthy enough and thus don't need to work.
I removed a post advertising an event...advertise on your own blog.
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