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May 7, 2008National/PoliticalClinton squeaks by Obama in Indiana Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton squeaked out a critical razor-thin victory in Indiana’s presidential primary Tuesday but lost North Carolina’s primary, a split decision that left her no closer to overcoming Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination. With 99 percent of the votes counted, Clinton was clinging to a narrow 51 percent to 49.percent lead. Only about 22,000 votes out of about 1.2.million cast separated her and Obama. Indiana exit polls show Clinton winning rural, suburban vote Sen. Hillary Clinton, who made a strong pitch to blue-collar workers, was pulling a majority of the votes in rural and suburban Indiana during Tuesday's Democratic primary. With 87 percent of the vote recorded in Indiana, Clinton had 52 percent of the vote to Sen. Barack Obama's 48 percent. Exit polls: Indiana includes union member & union household data; North Carolina (no union data) Superdelegates say, we will decide Uncommitted Democratic superdelegates in Congress overwhelmingly say they won’t necessarily back the presidential candidate who wins the most primary delegates. Instead, electability will be very important in their decision. Ind. nuns denied ballots over lack of ID About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow sister because they didn't have state or federal identification bearing a photograph. ... One newly married woman said she was told she couldn't vote because her driver's license name didn't match the one on her voter registration record. '03 White House E-Mails Not Found The Bush administration has not found disaster recovery files for White House e-mails from a three-month time period in 2003, according to court documents filed this week, raising the possibility that messages sent before and after the invasion of Iraq may never be recovered. Study: OSHA penalties small compared with other violations Federal penalties for workplace safety violations are miniscule compared with penalties for other regulatory violations, according to a new study by a Senate committee. The maximum civil fine the Occupational Safety and Health Administration can impose for safety violations is $70,000, compared with maximum fines of $325,000 that the Department of Commerce can impose for violations of the South Pacific Tuna Act and $270,000 that the Environmental Protection Agency can impose for Clean Air Act violations, the study found. Burger With a Side of Spies WHILE the Patriot Act has raised fears about government spying on ordinary citizens, the growing threat to civil liberties posed by corporate spying has received much less attention. During the late 1990s, a private security firm spied on Greenpeace and other environmental groups, examining activists’ phone records and even sending undercover agents to infiltrate the groups, according to an article in Mother Jones. In 2006 Hewlett-Packard was caught spying on journalists. Last year Wal-Mart apologized for improperly recording conversations with a New York Times reporter. And now it turns out that the Burger King Corporation, home of the Whopper, hired a private security firm to spy on the Student/Farmworker Alliance, a group of idealistic college students trying to improve the lives of migrants in Florida. State/LocalLibrary union? Hell yes! Kathy Starks-Dyer and Phil Eskew could be understandably smug about the resounding Monroe County Public Library (MCPL) employee vote on Earth Day to unionize. The "business-model" types whose management philosophy has dominated decision making at the community institution in recent years were anything but subtle in their anti-union sentiments. Former MCPL Board of Trustees President Stephen Moberly expressed dismay back in the winter that the resignation of former director Cindy Gray didn’t end the union movement. He thought the staff would be so enamored with Interim Director Sara Laughlin that all from the contentious Gray era would be forgotten, and they would drop the idea. .... So, following a 62-35 vote to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), union organizing committee members like Eskew and Starks-Dyer could easily gloat. But they’re not. They’re looking ahead. Related item from the Bloomington Independent: Eskew on the MCPL union Long Thompson beats Schellinger Posted: May 7, 2008 Jill Long Thompson captured a slim victory early today in a fierce battle for the Democratic nomination for governor. With just 26 of the state's 5,230 precincts left to report at 1:30 a.m., Long Thompson led Schellinger by just 5,400 votes. Mayor determined to add 1,000 police officers despite economic downturn .... To continue the LAPD expansion in the midst of an economic downturn, Villaraigosa has called for reductions in library hours and supplies, animal shelter hours, park rangers and maintenance, summer recreation workers and arts programs. .... As homeowner groups have groused about the higher fees, union activists complain that they are being asked to bear the brunt of the economic downturn. "The cultural aspect of the city, all the other services provided by the city, are being consumed by public safety," said Roy Stone, president of Librarians Guild Local 2626. Budget woes could stop state operations The prospect of the state actually shutting down some of its operations toward the end of summer is very real. The worsening budget crisis could take away many of the Governor's options when they don't pass a new budget on time. "We're running out of cash." Vallejo votes to declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy The Vallejo City Council voted to declare bankruptcy Tuesday night after months of last-ditch wrangling failed to rescue the city from financial catastrophe. .. Police, fire and other unions and many in the audience were outraged at the move, accusing the council of poor leadership. Senate Approves State Health Insurance Pooling Bill The Senate voted early today to give final legislative approval to a Democratic bill permitting municipalities, nonprofits and small businesses to join the state employee health insurance pool. .. Labor unions rejoiced. "Health-care pooling is a win-win situation," said Sal Luciano, executive director of Council 4, AFSCME. "It's a way to respond to soaring health care costs and to expand quality, affordable coverage to more citizens. It's a way to provide property-tax relief and protect services for the elderly and our kids." Mayor, unions discuss ways to avoid layoffs With hope dwindling for a state bailout, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. has met with union leaders to outline possible concessions to stave off layoffs. According to those in attendance at the meeting late last week, DeStefano seeks $6 million in concessions from unions, including a 5 percent to 6 percent increase in health benefit premiums and an increase in employee pension contributions. “He’s trying to do everything to prevent layoffs, but the concessions seem to be a little out of whack. . We certainly want to do everything we can do to prevent layoffs, but I’m not sure how much we can do,” said Larry Amendola, president of AFSCME, Local 3144, the city management union. IDOT move could cost $1 million Relocating the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety to southern Illinois could cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars in moving expenses, according to estimates provided to The State Journal-Register on Tuesday. ... The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees represents about 100 employees in the Division of Traffic Safety. AFSCME Executive Director Henry Bayer said the state must bargain with the union when a facility closes, including moving expenses. The union is working to block the move, but Bayer said, at the least, it wants to ensure all employee relocation costs are covered. Local officials present united front against prison closing Local officials on Tuesday tried to present a united front against the proposed closing of Pontiac Correctional Center, calling for a moratorium on the shuttering of state facilities and more research into the plan. ... Dan Jarrett, president of the prison’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 494, said it was a fully functional institution with numerous improvements that make it a safe environment. School bus shocker / 'Little Monster' | Driver, aide suspended after tape catches them taunting special needs kids Cathy and Richard Bedard worried that something was wrong on the bus that took two of their three special-needs children to school. So the Berwyn couple slipped a tape recorder in their 13-year-old daughter Tiffany's backpack to investigate. They couldn't believe their ears when they pushed play. Cathy Bedard threw up. "F - - - ing little monster," a man groused at 17-year-old Rick, who has Down syndrome. There were also jokes about tying kids to the roof of the bus, threats of breaking a child's finger and chuckling when a disabled student was escorted to another seat in order to "irritate" a classmate. .. The driver and a bus aide, Eugene Church, were suspended from driving students in the Morton School District 201, which hired First Student Inc. to transport eight disabled children to a special-needs school in Chicago. But the district learned that the two men were allowed to work elsewhere following a six-week suspension after the Jan. 17 recording surfaced, so the district is reviewing its $1.5 million annual contract with First Student and will try to bid the contract out by the end of the school year, district spokesman Dan Proft said. Corrections officers complain of lax security measures Racine Correctional Institution officers raised concerns Tuesday about what they say are lax security policies when inmates are medical patients outside the prison. Josh Kratochvil, president of Local 3777 of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, said that when an inmate is taken to an area hospital for overnight treatment, two officers are sent to oversee the inmate. When there is more than one inmate in a hospital, however, RCI policy allows each inmate to be overseen by just one correctional officer, and a third is sent to assist, rather than two, Kratochvil said. Workers prepare for layoff notices Layoff notices are being sent to township workers this week, lending an air of grim reality to a workforce reduction plan that Hamilton officials have said will result in a cut of just under 5 percent of its 660 municipal employees. ... "I'm concerned about employees losing their jobs and them being able to provide for their families," said Paul Schroeder, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2475, which represents blue-collar workers. Bloomberg On Track To Win OTB Struggle With the future of New York City OTB coming down to the wire, a top aide to Gov. David Paterson said state leaders are working on a deal to save the financially-beleagured organization, DN Capitol Bureau Chief Ken Lovett reports. .. Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, addressing the union that represents OTB workers, also vowed a deal will be in place before Bloomberg follows through on his threat to shutter the city’s OTBs. “We are going to do everything and anything to make sure that (OTB) continues,” Bruno told District Council 37 members in Albany to lobbying (the union represents the OTB employees who would lose their current jobs if the betting operation shuts down). NY High Court Refuses Gay Marriage Case The Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York State, Tuesday declined to hear a case challenging an appeals court ruling that found the marriages of same-sex couples married in jurisdictions where they are legal must be recognized in New York. ... The college refused to add Golden to the health care benefits because its contract with the Civil Service Employees Association did not address benefits for same-sex partners. Since then, the contract has been enhanced to extend benefits to an employee's domestic partner. State food lab staying put / Move to Geneva scrapped The state food laboratory is staying in the Capital Region after all, Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said today. ... The announcement was welcomed by the state's largest unions, the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employees Federation, whose members weren't keen on a major relocation halfway across the state. Burlington Schools, staff settle on contracts, phasing in 'livable wage' The Burlington Schools District and AFSCME union leaders announced today settled contracts for property services, food services and bus drivers that phases in a livable wage over four years. .. The City of Burlington adopted a livable wage in 1998 and expanded it to include contractual employees in 2004. This year, the city’s hourly rate for city employees is $12.95 with benefits and $13.94 without benefits; contracted employees with health care benefits must be paid $13.94 an hour and those without health care benefits $15.83 an hour. Related articles
Editorial: Work-farce / Florida treats state employees shabbily You don't need an advanced degree in management — heck, a little life experience is all you really need — to understand a basic rule about the workplace. If you don't appreciate your people, if you don't reward them fairly and acknowledge their hard work and dedication, it will hurt you in the end. Yet Florida lawmakers for many years have taken for granted employees on the state payroll. And the people who ultimately will suffer are Florida citizens, the often unappreciative customers. Raising the initiative bar Colorado lawmakers wrapped up the 2008 legislative session Tuesday by passing a ballot measure that would ask voters to make it harder to amend the constitution but easier to change state law. Most lawmakers agreed there have been too many initiatives changing the state constitution, sometimes at odds with each other. Newton's mayor asks for 28% raise A day after Mayor David Cohen of Newton warned that his city might close library branches, reduce the police force, and cut services to seniors if voters reject a property tax increase, he released a budget proposal that requests a 28 percent salary increase for himself. State to Cut Court Reporters Electronic recording machines might replace court reporters in many of the state's courtrooms. Court administrators have provided pre-layoff notification to seven of the state's 16 court reporters. .. Glessner said the remaining court reporters will handle some cases while others will be recorded electronically. |
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