Is this Contract a Joke (Homestead)

November 1, 2010 Leave a comment

Quite a sacrifice by the union members–giving up a cost of living increase when there is no increase in the cost of living.  Also, Homestead pays almost 60 percent of its budget to the police!

Under the new contract, which will be in place until September 2012, union members will forego a cost of living increase but will be spared from layoffs for at least the next year. The agreement also entitles union members to an automatic raise — if the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers negotiate in increase for their members — and increases base pay by 5 percent for any lieutenant who gets assigned to the detective bureau.

via Homestead and police union reach contract – Homestead / South Dade – MiamiHerald.com.

Filed under Miami-Dade County

Alvarez needs Benevolent Association: Recall Moving Ahead

October 25, 2010 Leave a comment

The support of the Dade County Police Benevolent Society (its name itself a flat contradiction in terms) for Mayor Alvarez demonstrates once again the negative influence of public sector labor unions, their disproportionate influence over government and elected officials, their glaring indifference to the well being of the greater number of taxpayers and their arrogance of infallibility.

Alvarez is countering the recall momentum with a long-standing base of support: The Dade County Police Benevolent Association has donated $50,000 to a PAC the mayor formed to mount a defense.

Alvarez formed the PAC, called Citizens For Truth, allowing him to raise unlimited sums of money. According to the latest filings, he has raised $54,650. Nearly all came from the PBA, which held a rally on the mayor’s behalf this weekend.

Alvarez was former director of Miami-Dade Police and earlier this year backed a 13 percent pay hike for county police, which will take effect in installments from September 2010 to September 2011.

via Braman: Signatures collected to put recall to voters – Miami-Dade Breaking News – MiamiHerald.com.

Filed under Employees and Unions, Miami-Dade County

Outsider’s Description of our Political System

October 25, 2010 Leave a comment

An outsider’s description of our political system (from top to bottom) may be hard to swallow and this description also applies to local and state governments.  Take our Miami-Dade government and Coral Gables government as examples of non-functional or partially functioning governments with deep financial and management problems.

A winner-takes-all voting system where both main parties are sustained by corporate financing, the congressional districts are openly gerrymandered and 40% of the upper chamber can block anything, is never going to be a benign vehicle for radical reform. Virtually every enduring progressive development in US politics since the war has been sparked either by massive mobilisations outside of electoral politics that have forced politicians to respond, or through the courts.

via Obama was never going to have the room to effect radical change | Gary Younge | Comment is free | The Guardian.

Filed under Coral Gables, Florida, Miami-Dade County, Politics

Language Abuse

October 23, 2010 2 Comments

For the Miami Herald to state in its headline that employment information is “mixed” is bordering on the ridiculous.

The unemployment situation in South Florida is terrible, about the same for many weeks and showing no signs of improving.  Let’s see what they say below the headline.

The federal government does make a seasonal calculation for Miami-Dade, one of the country’s largest local economies, and the report wasn’t encouraging. The federal numbers released Friday showed unemployment inching up in Miami-Dade, with the jobless rate climbing from 12.7 percent in August to 12.8 percent in September.

via South Florida unemployment figures mixed – Business Breaking News – MiamiHerald.com.

Filed under Economy, Miami-Dade County

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