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Daily NewswireNational/PoliticalWaupun correctional officer earns national recognition Correctional Sergeant Dan Meehan of the Waupun Correctional Institution has been named the national Correctional Officer of the Year by AFSCME International in Washington, D.C. Meehan has been employed as a correctional officer for more than two decades. During his tenure, the Waupun man has mentored hundreds of young officers beginning their career in the dangerous but rewarding field of corrections. ... As president of AFSCME Council 18 at WCI, Meehan has helped to negotiate his membership through a historic state budget battle this year. ... Nationwide, AFSCME represents 67,000 corrections officers and 23,000 corrections employees. Unions focusing more on McCain ... If the New York senator can win in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon and Puerto Rico — the next four of the six remaining primaries — then she can make a case to the Democratic superdelegates that she's the best candidate, said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "The end of the road is not winning the nomination," McEntee said. "The end of the road is getting the victory in November ... We just believe Obama has a higher mountain to climb than Clinton to beat McCain." Some of Clinton's most powerful union supporters — AFSCME, the American Federation of Teachers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — have re-declared their allegiance to Clinton and said they would continue to work for her. AFL-CIO extends anti-McCain campaign The nation's largest labor federation announced today that it will go door-to-door in battleground states over the next two weekends to tell union voters about its concerns with Republican John McCain's economic and healthcare proposals. The AFL-CIO said it hopes to reach 200,000 swing voters with 6,200 volunteers as part of its "McCain Revealed " campaign. The canvassers are scheduled to be in Colorado and Michigan this coming weekend, and in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington state, the weekend of May 17. House Democrats are targeting McCain ... In addition, two independent Democratic groups, Progressive Media USA and Americans United for Change, are busy disseminating negative information about McCain as he campaigns. Progressive Media USA ran an ad in Ohio and on cable in Washington, D.C. equating McCain with Bush and plans more advertising in the future. In addition, the group has created a Web site called McCain Source . The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, has a The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, has a Web site as well, called The Wonk Room , that tracks McCain and others. Americans United for Change coordinates its message with Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and the group's members have trailed McCain around the country to counter his policy proposals. .. Beginning in June, Americans United will send a bus across the nation called the " Bush Legacy Project ," with a museum on the inside about the impact of the last eight years. On the outside, two plasma screens will display video of Bush and McCain embracing. At West Virginia rally, Clinton vows to fight on Memo to those writing political obituaries for Hillary Clinton: She ain't done yet. .. "We think there is still a good chance to win," said Spud Terry, 61, of Nitro and a retired transportation worker wearing a green "AFSCME for Hillary" shirt. "There are a lot of people who might get a wake-up call next month, especially the superdelegates." Defying Bush, House Passes Broad Housing Bill House Democrats defied a veto threat from President Bush on Thursday as they approved a broad housing bill that would provide up to $300 billion in federally insured loans to refinance the mortgages of debt-strapped homeowners. In F.E.C. Moves, Some See Effort to Aid McCain For months, the White House and Senate Republicans have been content to let a political impasse over vacancies at the Federal Election Commission persist, sidelining the regulatory agency in the throes of a heated presidential campaign. But on Tuesday, President Bush suddenly announced three new nominees to the commission. ... The reason for the about-face? Several Democratic officials familiar with the negotiations and watchdog groups said they believed that Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, had been pressing the White House and Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, to resolve the issue. McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers]. Proposal Would Limit Medicare-Plan Marketing (no link) Addressing a flood of consumer complaints, the Bush administration proposed to bar insurance agents from using aggressive tactics to enroll seniors in Medicare's fast-growing private plans and its prescription-drug program. The proposal, released Thursday, would bar agents from cold-calling, door-to-door marketing and cross-selling of non-health-care products. It also would ban unsolicited marketing in doctors' waiting rooms and on the grounds of senior centers. Aging systems releasing sewage into rivers, streams ... Local governments across the USA plan to spend billions modernizing failing wastewater systems — some of which are more than 100 years old — over the next 10 to 20 years, EPA, state and local sewer authority officials said. Utah Mine Disaster Was Preventable, Report Says The general manager and possibly other senior staff at the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, where 9 miners died in August 2007, hid information from federal mining officials that could have prevented the disaster and should face criminal charges, according to a Congressional investigation whose results were released Thursday. Citigroup's Pandit Will Face `Antsy' Shareholders Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit will face shareholders impatient for a break from Charles O. ``Chuck'' Prince's legacy when he presents his plan tomorrow to return the biggest U.S. bank to profitability. .. Some analysts and shareholders, including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, have called for a breakup of the bank. The labor union's pension fund holds about 100,000 Citigroup shares. State/LocalUnion for state workers wants mandatory overtime eliminated - It's not every day organized labor asks management for less overtime, but that's what the largest union representing state employees is doing as it negotiates a new contract with the Blagojevich administration. State workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are pushing to eliminate mandatory overtime . Union leaders say significant cutbacks in the number of state employees have forced current workers to take on extra overtime hours, sometimes being forced to work double shifts with little advance notice. Those who can't pick up the required overtime shifts are disciplined. Related articles:
County to mull coroner switch County officials will hold a special meeting next month to mull the idea of switching from a coroner to a medical examiner. .. Mike VanOver, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1028 and a Will County deputy coroner, opposes the change and has researched the cost. "I don't think it's a good idea, fiscally," VanOver said, adding that creating an accredited medical examiner's office would cost the county millions. County to vote on salaries As environmental health enforcement officer for the Kane County Health Department, Bob Leonard received a 3.6 percent pay raise last December. So he is outraged that county board members are considering a proposal to raise the wages of several elected officials by as much as 23.5 percent. “Lead and say no,” said Leonard, who also is president of AFSCME Local 3966, which represents about 250 county employees. City Council in Bay Area Declares Bankruptcy In a potentially ominous harbinger for some cities in California and elsewhere, the Vallejo City Council voted to declare bankruptcy Tuesday night in the face of dwindling tax revenues, the housing market meltdown and a faltering economy. The unanimous vote was cast after late efforts to squeeze concessions out of city employees failed and with the city facing a $16 million shortfall for the fiscal year beginning in July. .. Municipal bankruptcies are not unheard of, but are often accompanied by scandal or legal losses. ... Because of propositions approved by voters, California strictly limits increases in property taxes. And in Vallejo, public workers say the cutting has already gone too far. Forum looks at Hillside sale Forum Health System is adding physicians to attract more patients and seeking better payment terms from its largest health care insurer in an effort to regain its financial health, leaders said Thursday. ... Increasing its patient base and cutting labor costs are key goals for the Forum board, Chairman Parry Hesselman said at the news conference at Northside to discuss the analysis by The Chartis Group (.pdf). ... The president of a 450-member registered nurses union at Trumbull Memorial in Warren took a dim view of the Chartis report. ‘‘This study told us nothing more than every other study we’ve had. I wish them good luck and success,’’ said Tom Connelly, president of the 450-member AFSCME/United Nurses of America Local 2026. Parking deal has penalty risk A proposed $215 million private lease of Harrisburg's public parking facilities downtown carries a $2 million risk. That's the penalty the city would have to pay the private companies seeking the deal if either the City Council or the union that represents garage employees rejects the deal. .. One item that would trigger the $2 million city fee is if the companies could not reach a contract with the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees. The contract with the union, which represents 53 parking authority employees, prevents the city from leasing its parking facilities. Detroit's Highest Paid Employee To Step Down A top Detroit city employee has announced plans to step down. Victor Mercado, the city's highest paid employee, has announced that he's stepping down as head of Detroit's Water and Sewage Department. ... AFSCME Local 207 President John Riehl, who represents water department employees, says Mercado has shrunk the department. Riehl believes Mercado is leaving because he knows Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's reign is coming to an end. Non-teacher 1% pay cut proposed The Manatee County school district proposed cutting salaries for employees represented by its support staff union by 1 percent and a freeze in raises based on the number of years an employee serves, a union official said Thursday. ... In a second round of talks Thursday, district officials and AFSCME, which represents about 1,000 employees, laid out concerns over salaries and jobs. City Worker Unions Fight Layoffs ... Union leaders said the city should require contractors to give fired city workers first shot at those jobs. "Because you're not doing the city any good when people are laid off, and then jobs that really still exist are filled by other people," said Nancy Lenk of AFSCME. Despite exemption, prisons to ban smoking Iowa's prisons will become tobacco-free in early January even though state lawmakers exempted the institutions in a new law that bans smoking in most public places. Prison officials are concerned about rising health care costs for inmates and believe banning smoking will help reduce those bills, said Fred Scaletta, prison spokesman. .. "If you take away cigarettes from the inmates, they may have nobody else to take their frustrations out on other than a correctional officer," said Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Proposal eases property taxes by adding fees Iowa's city and county governments would have more ability to charge special taxes or fees, under one idea for property tax relief that top legislative leaders said will be reviewed next year. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, said Wednesday that lawmakers likely will consider allowing local governments to substitute certain types of fees for property taxes. Our View, May 2008 This edition: WFSE members rally in support of contract team; Corporations holding cities and states hostage over jobs; will international investment offer a fair share to workers, with John Evans TUAC, Hospital workers, Les Blutes, Paris, protest to maintain quality care for mothers and babies. Cuomo Sees Fraud in Some Lawyers’ Pensions Hundreds of lawyers across the state have been illegally granted state pension benefits by school districts, towns and other governmental entities, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who has opened an investigation into the abuses. The problems stretch back decades and may have cost the state millions of dollars in pension payments, Mr. Cuomo said at a news conference on Thursday, where he announced settlements involving lawyers at firms in Buffalo and Albany. ... Many of the cases involve politically connected lawyers who work as independent contractors for regional school districts but are classified by the regional officials as public employees, which allows them to earn health benefits or become eligible for a state pension. Officers from Hagerstown area prisons air MRSA concerns with governor Correctional officers raised concerns about MRSA - methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection - during a meeting Thursday afternoon with Gov. Martin O'Malley and prison officials at the Maryland Correctional Training Center. .. "One of my co-workers almost died," said Sgt. Richard Thomas, a correctional officer at the medium-security Maryland Correctional Institution and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees local chapter 1772. Panel forms to privatize school health clinics Mayor Bill Finch, excoriated in recent days over his proposed budget that would deeply cut the school health clinics, said Tuesday the clinics could remain open if they were privatized. Finch, at a news conference in City Hall Annex, announced the formation of a seven-member committee that will make recommendations for turning over operation of the 10 school clinics to private health care providers. ... Finch was referring to the reimbursement the city gets from Medicaid for services provided at the clinics. Other health care providers can bill Medicaid at a higher rate than the city if they're federally qualified, officials say. Retirement changes would affect N.H. retirees' benefits Veteran government workers living on the smallest pensions would get $1,000 checks and 2.5 percent cost-of-living increases under proposed changes to the state retirement system adopted by the state Senate. Previous Daily Newswires |
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